Surfing Blues
by RavenRose8
Summary: Eighteen year old Neopolitan Goodwitch is on holiday in Devon, Woolacombe with her parents where she is learning to surf but can't get the hang of it. Can ex-pro surfer Ruby Rose teach Neo? And can Neo help Ruby overcome her own demons? (Modern AU, character death and dark themes. Also Sharks.)
1. Chapter 1

**So this was a random inspiration that I had after on the last day of my holiday I had an amazing session surfing down at Woolacombe, which is where this story is set. I hope you enjoy this story.**

 _"Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods."_

 _― Peter A. Levine_

 **Chapter 1-**

It had all started because of her parents, they had decided that this year they were going to take a two week holiday in England, namely the south-west of England.

Being from America it was a very different kind of area but she had enjoyed the holiday nonetheless but it was only a week long, which isn't very long to make friends or get to know anyone.

At least in most 'normal' people's heads it's not but all it took was a few hours for Neopolitan Goodwitch to make a friend.

They had gotten a hotel near a town called Barnstable which had good access to a number of other places as well, with the first week they explored around the area before the second week found them moving to another hotel near a beach called Woolacombe.

This was because the second week was supposed to be a one of the hottest weeks in the country so her parents decided to spend it near a beach.

The couple's eighteen year old daughter enjoyed this idea a lot and had shown an interest in learning how to surf when she found out the area had a lot of surf shops.

So her parents happily paid for a day of lessons and once making sure Neo was ok would spend the day with themselves, knowing their eighteen year old daughter could handle herself.

When the day came they got to the beach early to find the surf shop not overly busy but still had about five people outside changing into wetsuits and putting on bright red rash vests so the instructors knew who was in their group.

Neo quickly signed in and started getting changed, wearing a bikini underneath her suit as she easily worked the skin tight suit on.

After listening to the instructor the six of them were each handed blue soft top boards, they all paired up to carry two boards each down to the water that according to the instructor was coming in.

After being shown what to do on the beach they were allowed to get into the water, Neo shivered as the cold water hit her bare feet but quickly got over it as she started to walk through the water pulling her board behind her.

Looking into the sea she had found that it was quiet today, not many people were in the water it seemed, it was before nine o'clock in the morning so she wasn't surprised but she saw a small group of women with their own surf boards much further out then she was, catching waves before they broke as they easily moved along them.

She saw one woman, she had long black hair and was wearing a black and red wetsuit with a black and red surfboard catch a wave and within seconds stand up and was moving along the wave.

Neo watched entranced by the woman as she moved along the wave, her hair was moving behind her as the wind picked up.

As the wave started to break the woman smiled as she jumped back into the air with a shout as she hit the water, her board being pulled along with her.

Neo stopped staring with a blush as she turned back to her group and saw the others in her group attempt to catch some waves, with most falling off in their first attempt.

Wanting to try as well Neo managed to catch a wave but got her position wrong and ended up falling into the water, scrambling to stand up for air.

Over the next hour the group kept trying to surf, most had managed get to their knees while one or two were able to stand up for a few seconds.

Neo however was unable to do either, she had kept falling off her board and even when the instructor tried to help her she still failed.

Neo was ready to give up even though she had almost five hours left in the session to attempt to surf and try to get it right.

She looked back towards the group of surfers all sitting on their boards as the waves moved over them, they seemed to be talking amongst each other while waiting out there.

Neo looked confused as one of them, with long blonde hair pointed towards Neo as she was talking, unsure what they were talking about Neo decided to ignore them as she thought they were making fun of her.

Neo attempted to catch another wave but once more failed as she nosedived into the sea and as she went under she started to move to get up but found that she couldn't, the current under the wave keeping her down and when she tried to move her legs she found them caught by her leash that had wrapped around them.

Struggling further to try and get out from under the water she started to thrash around as she lost her breathe.

It wasn't until she felt a soft arm wrap around her waist and pull her up and into the fresh air that she finally relaxed into the person's arm as she started to hungrily suck in air into her hurting lungs.

Whoever was holding Neo had easily lifted her up and she was sat down on her board as she tried to catch her breath and cough up any water she had swallowed, while her saviour was standing in the water next to her.

After a minute of catching her breath and calming her rushing heart Neo managed to say, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." A soft, sweet voice said.

Neo finally looked at her saviour and found the woman she saw earlier with the long black hair. Upon closer inspection Neo saw that the black hair was a mixture of dark red hair and black hair mixed together.

Looking at the woman's face she saw a soft but tired look in her oddly coloured silver eyes, but she while she had a smile on her face Neo could see it was laced with worry.

Hearing a shout to the side Neo saw the surf instructor moving over towards them but the woman just waved her hand and pointed towards the beach.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked as she turned back to the woman.

"Um, I am thank you." Neo said quickly, stuttering slightly as she couldn't meet the woman's eyes.

"Good, I've got your board so how about I take you in to the beach and you can rest for a minute, ok?" She said.

"Um sure, why did you help me?" Neo asked, not able to stop herself.

"Why didn't I? I've been watching you and well when I saw you in trouble I stepped in to help, the others were too far away." The woman informed the woman.

Neo looked around to see the surf instructor coming over to them but saw what the woman meant, she had drifted away from the group and she hadn't even noticed.

"Why were you looking at me?" Neo asked, turning back to the woman who was gently pushing the board through the water towards the beach.

"Ah well my friends and I always enjoy watching surf students and well I guess I can say that you caught my eye." The woman said.

"Laughing at us and me because of my hair?" Neo spat out as she remembered the blonde woman pointing at her and talking with the group.

While Neo didn't normally care about people's opinions about her, especially because of her oddly coloured hair and eyes she was used to people laughing at her about it because she had a mixture of pink, brown and white hair and her eyes were two different colours, blue and brown.

The woman cocked her head as she stopped moving through the water, "What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"I saw your blonde friend pointing at me and talking to the rest of you." Neo stated softly.

"Yang? She was just pointing to you because I mentioned you, she was asking me if that was who I was going to help. I promise we weren't laughing at you, we never do that." The woman explained quickly.

"Help me? But I wasn't drowning until a few minutes ago." Neo said, confused and blushing slightly at her accusation.

"Help you with surfing, I saw you struggling so when you saw Yang, the blonde pointing at you that's because I told her my plan." The woman informed Neo as they got into the shallow water.

Climbing off Neo started to walk in as the woman picked up her board, once out of the water Neo sat down on the beach while the woman put her board next to her and sat next to her.

Barely a minute later the surf instructor came running over to Neo, crouching down next to her asking, "Neo are you ok?" He said worriedly.

"Ah I'm fine, I just caught under the wave and I think the leash tied my legs so I couldn't move them easily, it was lucky that um, she was there to help." Neo explained to the worried man, not knowing the name of the woman who saved.

"Hey Chris." The woman said with a small smile and a wave.

"Thanks Ruby, I was just too far away to help." The man, Chris said thanking the woman with a smile.

"It's fine Chris, I can keep an eye Neo while you attend your other students." The woman, Ruby suggested to the man.

"Is that alright?" Chris asked.

"Its fine Chris, I can keep an eye on Neo and maybe help her out a little if you don't mind?" Ruby asked.

"I don't mind Ruby, we have about another two hours before we go in for lunch, ok?" Chris informed Ruby before running back to the other students.

Standing up Ruby gave a sharp whistle before making a few gestures to the group she was with in the sea before the blonde one, Yang broke away from them with Ruby's black and red board as she gave it to her.

"Coming back in?" Yang asked, the woman wearing a black and bright yellow suit that was tight around her ample chest.

"I will at some point, I'm going to help Neo out so not sure when I'll join the rest of you." Ruby informed Yang.

"Alright then, still on for tonight though right?" Yang asked.

"Of course." Ruby said with a soft smile.

"Alright then, have fun and nice to meet you Neo." Yang said before running back into the sea to join the others.

After a few minutes of silence Ruby broke it, "I hope I didn't presume too much about teaching you and stuff, sorry." Ruby said.

"Ah it's alright, um that's a nice board you have." Neo pointed out.

"Thank you, I actually made it myself a couple years ago and kept it since, it's called Crescent Rose." Ruby said with a smile, "Oh I forgot, I'm Ruby it's nice to meet you." Ruby said with a slight laugh.

Neo giggled at the woman as she smiled at the other woman, "It's nice to meet you Ruby my name is Neo." Neo told her.

"Well Neo, would you like to get back into the water?" Ruby asked the girl.

"I'm not sure, all I kept doing is falling down so I don't think I'm going to go back in." Neo said, slightly annoyed at how it was going.

Ruby frowned slightly, "How about this? You finish the morning session with me and if you still don't like it then I won't hassle you over it, ok?" Ruby suggested.

Neo thought for a moment as she looked at the other woman, unsure at what to decide but looking into the other woman's eyes and seeing hope she gave in, "Alright then." Neo said.

Ruby's smile lit up her face as she jumped up into the air, "Thank you, I'll treat you to lunch afterwards as well." Ruby said as she stood up, helping Neo stand up as well.

"Oh um you don't need to do that, I um can get something to eat myself." Neo said awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it, plus I'm dragging you back out into the sea so the least I can do is this." Ruby said with a smile as she put her leash onto her leg.

"But shouldn't I be the one getting lunch? Considering you saved me." Neo asked.

"Again don't worry about it, it's not every day you can save a cute girl." Ruby said with a smile once more.

Neo blushed almost as dark as Ruby's suit as she heard what Ruby said, "Um, you think I'm cute?" Neo squeaked out.

Ruby stopped for a minute before she realised what she had said, "Ah I'm sorry, I tend to ramble at times and not think through what I say." Ruby said, smiling sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Ah it's ok, it's just no one has called me cute before." Neo said softly.

"Really? Hmm that's odd because as I said, you are quite cute but come on, times wasting away." Ruby said with a smile, helping Neo with her leash and board.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Death ends a life, not a relationship."_

― _Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie_

 **Chapter 2-**

Getting back into the water they started wading out into the sea until they were just past the point of the waves breaking.

"Alright, I want you to catch a wave so I can see what you're doing wrong, ok?" Ruby told her.

"Ok, but what if something goes wrong?" Neo asked, unsure as she couldn't feel the ground.

"I'll be next to you the whole time so just relax." Ruby said with a reassuring smile.

"Alright then." Neo said as she chose a wave and started to paddle for it, picking up speed.

However once this started Neo started to nosedive into the water and she quickly fell off and into the water as her board was thrown up behind. This time instead of getting stuck under the wave Neo was able to pull herself above the water.

Ruby who was riding the wave next to her jumped into the water next to her and when the girl had gotten up she spoke to her.

"Alright, when getting onto the board for the wave shift your weight down a bit so your feet just dangle slightly on the edge." Ruby supplied to the girl.

"Ok then." Neo said, climbing onto her board and moving until she had her feet just on the edge of her board while Ruby bobbed up and down in the water next to her.

"Here comes a wave, and paddle!" Ruby said quickly as she watched Neo paddle hard as the wave picked up energy as Neo started to get pushed forward.

This time instead of nosediving into the sea she was able to stay on the wave and she started to push herself up and she was able to get onto her knees without much issue until the wave started to lose energy and she fell into the water.

Neo stood up with a smile and turned to see Ruby clapping her further in the sea as she sat on her board.

It took Neo almost five minutes to finally get back to where Ruby was and both girls had a smile on their face.

"Enjoy it?" Ruby asked.

"I loved it, it seemed my weight was just off." Neo said excitedly.

"Seems so, how about we keep working on catching the waves and staying on the board for the moment?" Ruby suggested.

"Sure." Neo said as she started looking for the next wave to catch.

The next two hours were spent by Neo getting the technique of catching waves and being able to get onto her knees, and even got to one knee and one foot.

Near the end of the session Yang had come over to join them again and while Neo caught a wave the two were speaking to each other.

"How's it going?" Yang asked as she gently paddled to keep herself stable on her board.

"It's going great, she's getting the hang of it easily now." Ruby told her.

"That's good then, how about the other part? How's that going?" Yang asked, winking at Ruby.

"What other thing?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Oh I'm sure you know, you mentioned that you found the girl was cute so how's that going?" Yang said.

Blushing Ruby looked away, "I'm just helping her with her surfing and taking her out for lunch later, that's all." Ruby told her.

"Hmm sure, why not bring her to the event tonight?" Yang suggested.

"I don't know, I'm not sure how old she is so I don't know if she can come." Ruby said, thinking on the idea.

"Well then ask her stupid." Yang stated.

"Ask who what?" Neo asked as she joined the two women.

"Ignore her, Yang is Blake at the car?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, she's not feeling well so she's deciding to sit in the car and read. There's spare clothes for you in there if you want." Yang stated.

"Thanks Yang, I'll be back a little later." Ruby said as Yang started to go.

"Remember tonight." Yang shouted at her as she continued to paddle away.

Shaking her head with a small smile Ruby turned to Neo, "Seems Chris is calling us over, so we better head in. One last wave?" Ruby asked to a nodding Neo.

"Good, come on then." Ruby said with a smile as she soon laid down on her board and started to paddle out to catch a wave.

As the wave touched her feet Ruby stood up as she started move along the wave as she let it carry her to the beach.

Neo followed behind her on another wave but was on her knees instead of standing, reaching the beach Neo stood up and picked up her board following Ruby over to the surf school group.

Taking a hold of one of the other person's board the two of them carried it up the beach easily while Ruby was talking with Chris, the instructor.

As they neared the small ramp as they walked through the little stream of cold water, Ruby had moved back to speak to Neo .

"I'm going to get changed in the car pack, once you've changed come up and meet me, it'll be easy to find me so don't worry." Ruby said with a smile.

"Sure, it shouldn't take me long." Neo informed her.

"Good, I'll see you in a bit." Ruby said as she started to jog up the ramp and up towards the large car pack.

As soon as the group reached the shop Neo handed over her board and started to peel off the wetsuit and hand it over to one of the employees.

"You've got the afternoon session as well right?" Chris asked.

"Yeah I do, do I just come back here?" Neo asked.

"Yeah you do, but I'm assuming Ruby's going to help you out isn't she?" The man asked.

"She offered to, yes." Neo said.

"Ok then, are you going to accept her offer?"

"I'm not sure, I mean I'm meant to be doing it with you and not with her." Neo said.

"Don't worry about that, Ruby used to help out around here when she was in town so it's ok, but how about I refund half the money for the morning session and when you come back from lunch we'll let you rent the wetsuit and board again, sound fair?" Chris suggested.

"Really?" Neo asked, surprised at what he was doing.

"Really, I can see that you get on well with her. Plus it might do her some good as well." Chris stated.

"What do you mean?" Neo asked, confused.

"I'm guessing you don't follow pro surfing do you?" He asked, which Neo confirmed with a shake of her head.

"Well Ruby's a local around here and was a rising star on the circuit. First in the youth competitions and then later on the adult ones, she won quite a few of them around the world until about a year ago. For some reason right in the middle of a competition in Hawaii she quit and came back here, no one knows why except for her family and friends but she just stopped right in the middle of her career." Chris told her.

"What does she do now?" Neo asked.

"Surfs out there, and some freelance work for a magazine alongside working for the lifeguard on the beach part time as well, but this is the first time I've seen her out there with her friends for a while, let alone actually help someone with their surfing in quite a long time." Chris said offhandedly.

"Really? How come?" Neo asked, curious about the woman who was helping her.

"No idea, only really she does and her friends I couldn't really say. Anyway you wouldn't want to keep her waiting." Chris said smiling at the woman who had gotten out of her wetsuit and dressed in her shorts and t-shirt, alongside wearing open sandals.

Neo thanked the man as she walked out of the shop walking up to the car pack. It wasn't very busy as it was the start of the week and most people were either working or in school.

Neo spotted Ruby standing next to a nice land rover with surf board sitting on the top, Neo also saw Ruby talking to a slightly shorter girl with black hair and amber coloured eyes.

The two were talking with each other and laughing as Ruby stood there in a red bikini with her wetsuit on the car's hood, drying out.

Neo walked over to the two women and the woman Ruby was talking to noticed her first and said, "You must be Neo, my name's Blake it's nice to meet you." The woman said nasally as she held out her hand to the other girl.

"Hello Blake, it's nice to meet you too. Are you alright?" Neo asked.

"It's just a cold don't worry about it, thanks for asking though." Blake told her.

By this point Ruby turned around with a smile, giving Neo a full view of Ruby's body. She noticed the soft but clear muscles of her stomachs and arms and while her chest wasn't big it was still slightly above average.

Neo noticed a large rose tattoo sitting on her shoulder, slightly covered by the strap to her bikini top but what caught Neo's attention the most was the large tattoo running all the way down her right arm.

She saw that it was a rose stem full of thorns wrapping around her entire arm and ending just before her hand itself exploding out into another smaller rose on the underside of her wrist hiding the veins slightly with the dark red colour.

Neo seemed to stare at Ruby's body to the point that Blake noticed and had a smirk on her face as it she saw Ruby doing the same to the other girl.

Coughing lightly Blake turned to Ruby and said, "There's some spare clothes in the boot in the big red bag, take whatever you want." Blake told the other woman who nodded with a slight blush on her face.

Ruby had seen Neo in her wetsuit but it didn't compare to the casual clothes she was wearing now, even if Ruby liked seeing Neo in a wetsuit.

While the shorts gave away some of Neo's legs they still covered most of them, the shirt Neo wore while baggy still revealed Neo's toned arms and slightly larger than average chest but revealed nothing else.

Ruby who was at least a head taller than the other girl enjoyed the size difference, but she was quick to push these thoughts out of her mind while she pulled on small shorts that barely reached the middle of her thighs while she pulled on a large black jumper that reached her mid-thigh.

Once dressed Ruby slipped on some shoes before coming back to Blake and Neo, "Well we'll leave you to enjoy your book Blake, I'm sure Yang will be up soon anyway." Ruby informed the other woman before taking Neo's hand and leading them away.

"Uh bye Blake, nice talking to you and hope you feel better soon." Neo said quickly as she was pulled away.

Blake smiled a knowing smile at the two as she climbed back into the car and carried on reading her book.

"What's with Blake and Yang?" Neo asked, curious.

"Ah the two of them are dating, have been for quite a few years." Ruby said as she made her way through the large car pack, walking towards the town.

"Dating? Really?" Neo asked, surprised.

Ruby stopped for a moment before turning back to Neo, "Ah sorry, again I tend to just say things even if the two of them are in the open about it." Ruby said sheepishly.

"Ah it's alright, I'm just a little surprised is all" Neo said, squeezing Ruby's hand to make sure she knew she was ok with it.

"Thanks, anyway let's go get lunch." Ruby said with a smile as she started to lead Neo into the small town.

"Where are we going?" Neo asked as they were walking past another car pack and golf course.

"A small shop, does pastries, ice cream, fudge and these great baguettes during the summer season." Ruby said with a wide smile on her face.

As they entered the quiet shop Ruby raised her hand in hello as they walked up to the counter. "Hey Tom, been busy today?" Ruby asked.

"Hey Ruby, not yet but expecting it to pick up later on today." Tom said cheerfully.

"That's good then, can we get two baguettes please?" Ruby asked.

"Sure, the usual for you? What about your friend?" Tom asked as he moved over to the sandwich counter.

"Please, and this is Neo. What would you like?" Ruby asked turning to the other girl.

Neo was silent as she looked over the menu and decided to keep it simple, "Um could I just have a BLT please?" She asked politely.

"Of course Neo." Tom said as he made the two baguettes while the two women got themselves drinks, both choosing water.

Once they had got their food and a small argument over who was paying, which Ruby won in the end as she payed Tom before the two girls went outside to eat.

While they were eating Ruby asked, "So where are you from?" She asked between bites.

"I'm from America, LA." Neo stated, mentioned where she lived with her parents.

"Ah cool, I've been to America it's a nice place but nothing can beat home. I never asked, how old are you?" Ruby asked the girl.

"Eighteen, you?" Neo asked as she finished off her food.

"Twenty, even if I don't look like it." Ruby said with a smile as she finished and started to drink her water.

"So have you lived here all your life?" Neo asked, wanting to learn more about the other woman.

"Most of it, spent quite a bit of time moving around when I was sixteen but came back a year ago just to be home again." Ruby said, her voice showing a hint of sadness before being wiped away.

But Neo didn't miss the flash of sadness in her eyes as she said about coming home again, "Are you alright?" Neo asked unconsciously.

"I'm fine." Ruby said quickly as a natural reaction to whenever someone asked that.

Neo saw this but decided to let it go for now and maybe bring it up later on, "So what do we do now?" Neo asked.

"We still have a bit of time if you want to wander around the town." Ruby suggested.

"Sure." Neo said as the two of them started to go through the town and into some of the shops.

"So where are you staying?" Ruby asked while they were inside one of the shops looking at clothes.

"I can't remember its name but the hotel right over there." Neo said, pointing to the hotel at the end of the road.

"Really? That's quite good then, is it nice?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah it's really nice, my family and I are staying there for the week so we can have easy access to the beach before we travel back next Monday." Neo told her.

"Ah so going to enjoy the beach everyday then?" Ruby asked teasingly.

"That's my plan." Neo said smiling, a slight hint of a blush, "What about you?" Neo asked.

"Ah my main piece of work is something I can do whenever I want, and I've got a week off this week with some friends down for it so we're going to surf as much of it as we can." Ruby informed the other girl.

"Really? That sounds great." Neo said.

"That's the plan. Hey we're having a gathering at the restaurant, Red Barn tonight, would you like to come?" Ruby asked the other woman shyly, toying with the end of her sleeves.

"What is it for?" Neo asked, curious about the occasion.

"Ah well my friends and I are all meeting up as some of them are playing live there tonight, Juniper I don't know if you've heard of them." Ruby asked.

"Sadly I don't, who are they?" Neo asked.

"Friends of mine, they are a band pretty popular among the surfing community they would play music at competitions and I met them here." Ruby said with a small smile, the sadness in her eyes returning for a fraction of a second.

"They sound pretty good, what time is it?" Neo asked, wanting to go and check it out.

"Nine o'clock is when they start playing but we're all meeting about an hour earlier to get some food and stuff if you're able to go." Ruby informed her.

"Ah I'll have to check but it should be alright." Neo said.

Ruby gave the girl a smile, "Alright then, why don't we go back and get ready to head back out?" Ruby suggested.

"Sure." Neo said and the two women started walking back to the beach while separating from each other at the car park as Ruby got changed once more.

 **A/N**

 **So once more, felt like posting something today as I didn't really have much in the way of one shots sadly. On that note I am looking for some prompts, so you can either leave them in a review or PM me.**

 **I haven't got too much of this actually written, but I do want to get this finished to clean my plate so to speak.**

 **Not too much to really say about this, and although Yang and Blake are together in this story I had the thought to actually change Yang out for Winter but couldn't be bothered.**

 **That's pretty much it, so until next time. ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

" _You can't patch a wounded soul with a Band-Aid."_

― _Michael Connelly, The Black Echo_

 **Chapter 3-**

The next three hours until half five that afternoon the two women were in the sea surfing, while Neo didn't stay standing on the board for long before losing her balance but Neo was still able to catch a wave and stay on the board unless she tried standing.

When the session had ended the two women went their separate ways as Neo went back to her hotel while Ruby met up with her friends.

When Neo took the short walk to her hotel she found her parents outside sitting at the small restaurant attached to the hotel talking with each other.

Neo went up to them with a smile and stood next to them, "Hey mom and dad." Neo said happily.

"Hello Neo, how was your day?" Her mother, Glynda Goodwitch was a tall blonde woman who was stern but cared very much for her daughter.

"It started off bad but it got a lot better, I made a friend who helped me out a lot today." Neo said happily.

"That's great, what's your new friend's name?" Her father, Ozpin Goodwitch who was a tall man with a cane and grey hair, asked.

"Ruby, she's a brilliant surfer and really helped me out today." Neo said happily.

"That's wonderful, what do you plan on doing for the rest of the day?" Her mother asked.

"Well I'm going to have a shower and get changed but well Ruby invited me out with her friends tonight for dinner, I was hoping that I could go?" Neo asked, looking away unsure at what her parents would say as she never really went out with friends before.

Her parents were quiet for a minute as they took in the request before her father spoke up, "You're eighteen so I don't think you really need ask permission, but of course you can. I'm assuming it's in the town?" He asked.

"Yeah it's at the big restaurant, Red Barn. The plan is to meet at eight to get dinner and some of her friends are playing there tonight." Neo informed them.

"Well we don't mind, do you need any money?" Her mother asked.

"Ah I'm alright, I've got enough thank you." Neo said, having saved up more than enough money for the holiday when she learnt about it a couple months ago. "I'm going to go up and get ready, bye." Neo said as she gave her parents a small wave before going up to her room.

Once inside her small, single room Neo undressed and started the shower to wash away the sea salt over her body and in her hair.

Neo spent half an hour in the shower washing away the sea from her body, finishing up she wrapped a towel around her body and a second one around her hair as she sat down on her bed and turned the TV on.

While there wasn't a large range of channels Neo just turned on the news as she went about drying her body and hair.

Once she had finished drying her body she pulled on some underwear and a bra before looking at the clothes she brought with her, deciding what she wanted to wear.

Wanting to keep it simple Neo just pulled on a pair of shorts and a tight fitting t-shirt, unconsciously hoping that the outfit would maybe catch Ruby's eyes.

Seeing that she still had over an hour before she was supposed to meet up with Ruby and her friends she spent that time watching TV while laying down on the bed, wanting to rest her aching body.

Neo awoke with a start as she realised she had fallen asleep, searching around for the time she checked her phone to discover it was ten to eight.

Seeing that she didn't have long before she needed to go out, she quickly pulled on a pair of shoes and grabbed one of her zipped hoodies in case it got cold.

Walking out of the hotel she made her way towards the restaurant that Ruby had told her about, walking inside she started to look around until she heard her name being over to see a large booth in the corner where Ruby was waving to her with a smile. Walking over to the booth, Ruby was sitting on the end and stood up to let Neo slid into the booth.

"Hey Neo, glad you could make it." Ruby stated.

"Thanks for inviting me." Neo said as she looked around, shrinking back slightly at seeing all the focus being put on her.

"Ah where are my manners I haven't introduced everyone. You already know Blake and Yang." Ruby stated as the two aforementioned women raised their hands in welcome.

"Next to Yang is Coco and Velvet, the other two out with us today." Ruby said as one woman wearing sunglasses and a hat but hints of brown hair were showing through, while a girl with long brown hair was leaning on her shoulder. Both women gave a small wave before turning back to look at the menu.

"The other blonde one is Jaune, next to him is Pyrrha the tall redhead, the one with the shorter hair is Nora and then the guy with the pink strip is Ren and they are the band playing later. Everyone this is Neo." Ruby said as she introduced them all.

"Um hello." Neo said softly giving a small wave as she made herself smaller, not used to being around so many people.

It was Pyrrha who spoke up when they all saw what Neo was doing, "It's alright Neo, and we don't bite so you don't need to worry about anything." Pyrrha said offering the girl some comfort.

Neo nodded her head and sat up but was finding it hard to relax.

"Anyway, here's a menu take a pick on what you want and write it down." Ruby said with a smile as she handed Neo a menu and put a piece of paper and pen in the middle of the table.

Neo took the menu and started to look over the options she had before writing down what she wanted alongside her drink.

It didn't take long for everyone to write down what they want, taking the piece of paper Ruby went up to the counter to order the food for everyone leaving Neo alone with everyone else.

Not sure what to do Neo looked down at the table while she played with her hands until someone asked a question to her.

"So Neo, what do you do?" Velvet asked softly.

"Well I was in school until this year but I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, I might go to college but I don't know." Neo stated.

"How old are you?" Coco asked.

"Eighteen." Neo stated.

The two women just nodded their heads in response before Neo asked, "What about all of you?" Neo asked.

"All of us what?" Jaune asked.

"How old are all of you?" Neo asked again.

Yang answered for them all, "Blakey and I are twenty three, Vels, Jaune, Ren, Nora and Pyrrha are all twenty while Coco is twenty one. Oh and Rubes is twenty as well." Yang answered, telling her everyone's age.

Neo nodded her head slowly as she realised she was the youngest in the group and she suddenly felt that much smaller.

"Don't worry about being the youngest, we don't really care too much about age as in the sea it doesn't really matter, just the ability and attitude really." Yang said with a smile.

"Well I'm not that good at surfing." Neo mumbled but they all heard what she had said.

"She meant in the sense that as long as you have fun and aren't being an ass to other people, she didn't mean being good at surfing but just your ability to keep going and have fun. Plus from what Ruby has told us you've been really getting the hang of it all." Blake told her, smiling at the younger girl.

"Oh." Neo said as she blushed.

"So what are you interested in studying?" Blake asked as the group started to talk amongst themselves.

"Again, I'm not sure but things like psychology and things like geography and geology but I'm not sure what I want to specialise in." Neo said, getting slightly used to talking with the older women.

After talking for a few minutes with the other woman Ruby had returned holding a tray of drinks, balancing it on one hand Ruby started to hand out drinks.

Most of the group had just ordered beer while Ruby, Neo and Blake had all ordered something different.

Blake had ordered tea which Ruby happily gave her while Neo had just ordered a coke, the same as Ruby but she had the coke mixed with Jack Daniels.

Sitting back down next to Neo, Ruby smiled at Neo saying, "So what have you been talking about?" She asked.

"Just getting to know each other a little." Neo told her.

Ruby's smile kept up saying, "Well that's good then, foods all ordered and it's not overly busy so shouldn't take too long." Ruby said.

As they all waited for their food they began to talk about themselves a little bit allowing Neo to learn about all of them.

She learnt that all of them were surfers of varying skills, with a couple of them even being pro's as well, like Yang, Blake and Coco while the others were more casual surfers and just doing it for fun.

She found out that Yang and Blake were actually married and all of the people in the group were in relationships with each other.

Ruby had explained it all that she knew all of them from school as she had been quite smart and was evaluated up a few years meaning she was able to become friends with the older people.

She had also told her about the relationships of everyone, saying that Coco and Velvet were together, Jaune and Pyrrha were also together and the last pair was Nora and Ren.

Neo had asked if Ruby was in a relationship which was when she noticed some of the others tense, namely Velvet and Yang at the question but Ruby just laughed it off telling her that she wasn't in a relationship with anyone, making Neo's heart skip a beat for a second as she heard the news.

It didn't take long for their food to arrive with three waitresses bringing over the plates for the group, thanking them they all started to eat the food, conversation died down slightly but picked up when Ruby went to get another round of drinks for everyone.

Once they finished they all didn't want desert so instead sat around to keep talking once more with Ren, who was sitting on the other end go to get a third round of drinks for everyone.

"So Neo, what are you doing down around here if you're from the US?" Yang asked, recognising the slight accent.

"Holiday with my parents, we're here for two weeks, last week we spent the time traveling around and this week it's to spend it all at the beach." Neo told them.

"Sounds like fun, we're here for the week before we go back to the real world again." Yang said.

"Ah I'll be back in a minute." Ruby said as she slipped out of the booth, she came back just over a minute later with a tray holding eleven filled shot glasses.

Putting the tray down in the middle of the table Ruby handed out the drinks, even giving one to Neo who looked at Ruby in confusion, even more so when Ruby placed two of them in front of her.

Everyone knew the meaning behind this and waited for a moment before they all raised their shot glass up into the air and the middle, unsure what was going on Neo followed suit as she waited to see what was going to happen.

"To Weiss." Pyrrha said, the same words being echoed by everyone else as they all gently knocked their glasses together and downing the shot.

Neo swallowed the drink in one go as she felt the slight burn with the liquid going down her throat, looking around she saw similar reactions from the others as well.

Ruby who had a second one in her hand raised it up as she mumbled to herself something the others couldn't hear, but Neo heard it clearly.

"To lost love." Ruby mumbled before downing the second shot, showing no reaction to the drink as sadness filled her eyes once more.

Before Neo could asked Ruby about the look or who Weiss was, Pyrrha noted the time and said, "Ah we've got to get ready, won't be long until we need to start." Pyrrha stated as the band all started to slid out of the booth and walk over to the raised area by the bar where a set of instruments were set up for them.

As they all left the group spread out a little more to allow for more room where Yang noticed Ruby downing her fifth drink, "You alright Rubes? That's your fifth drink." Yang asked, the others had only had three and even then they were likely to not have many more.

"I'm fine Yang, really. Just thirsty." Ruby said, evading the question but Neo had seen the slight flash of emotion in her eyes.

Not wanting to push the issue Yang let it go as she started talking to Blake about something about the week while Ruby talked with Neo further.

"So any plans for the rest of the week?" Ruby asked the other girl as she turned to look at her.

"I'm not sure, I want to say surfing but then again I don't have the equipment for it." Neo said, sounding slightly sad.

"You can rent the equipment from the shop you had your lesson at today, or if you can't then I'm sure I have a wetsuit that will fit you and a board you can use if you want to get out there some more." Ruby told her.

"Really? You would do that?" Neo asked, excited at the news.

"Its fine, if you want to go out there then something like lack of equipment shouldn't stop you." Ruby informed her with a smile.

"Thank you so much." Neo said, and almost hugged the older woman but stopped herself with a blush.

Luckily for her Pyrrha's voice came through the speakers around the restaurant prompted the group to all move out of the booth and go towards the bar.

"Hello everyone, in case you didn't already know we're Juniper and we're going to be playing a couple songs for you tonight, enjoy." Pyrrha said as she stepped back and started to play.

Soon the whole restaurant was filled with the music the band were playing, they chose quieter songs as it was late but it was still loud in the bar area.

After two songs went by Pyrrha stopped singing as they all took a drink of water as they took a break while Pyrrha went up to the microphone.

"Hey everyone, now I'm sure most of you know why we're playing here tonight." Pyrrha stated before she herself took a drink of water.

Neo looked around the bar and main restaurant area to see some of the locals in the town and those working at the surf school near the beach, she even noticed Chris nursing a beer at a table with what she assumed were the other employees of the shop.

"A year ago today, our lead singer and close friend Weiss Schnee died in a shark attack in Hawaii where we were playing a gig. While the attack itself would have been two days ago she managed to hold on for two days before succumbing to her wounds." Pyrrha said as an aura of sadness fell around the whole place.

Neo finally realised what the toast was about earlier at the booth but she remained silent as Pyrrha continued speaking.

"Even though it's been a year since she's been gone, still feels like she was just here learning to surf around here as we started on our first tour. Even now that she's gone we all still feel her with us and so we'd just like you all to raise your glasses to Weiss, the best singer we've ever heard and the best friend any of us have any known, this next song's for you Princess." Pyrrha said as she raised a glass of beer into the air, everyone else in the building following suit.

As one they all said, "To Weiss." Before taking a drink in her honour. The band starting to play a quiet, sad song.

Ruby completely downed her seventh drink excluding the two shots she had had earlier, once she finished her drink Ruby said.

"I'll be back in a minute." She said as she walked towards the toilet, Neo seeing the look of pure sadness in her eyes.

Watching Ruby go Neo turned to Blake and asked, "Why does Ruby look so sad when someone mentions Weiss or about relationships?" Neo asked the older woman.

Blake looked at Neo softly, "You noticed too?" Blake stated, "It's not my place to tell you but Weiss was special to Ruby and even if she makes out she's ok, we notice." Blake told her but gave her a look to drop the subject as well with a hint of sadness in her own eyes.

Neo dropped the subject but started to get worried when Ruby hadn't returned almost ten minutes later, it wasn't until a woman had gone up to someone at the counter, who in turn went to Blake and Neo and said.

"Someone's just told me that there was someone sobbing and throwing up in the bathroom, I think it's Ruby." The woman explained to the two women.

 **A/N**

 **So as I said this is now finished so I'll be posting this once a week, not sure which day yet but it'll be posted sometime during the week.**

 **Not actually much to say here, other than still looking for prompts so send them in.**

 **Until next time. ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

" _Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods."_

― _Peter A. Levine_

 **Chapter 4-**

As Blake realised what was going she started making her way to the toilets with Neo following close behind her.

As they got to the female toilets all they heard was silence but Blake noticed the blood on the floor underneath one of the stalls.

"Neo, go to the bar and ask for Summer, tell her it's Ruby and bring the first aid kit." Blake ordered quickly.

Neo nodded and rushed out of the room to the bar, asking immediately for Summer who turned out to be a tall pale woman that looked like a much older Ruby with longer hair.

Hearing Neo's message she reacted quickly, grabbing a green first aid kit and going towards the toilets, Neo close on her tail as they both entered the toilets.

They found Blake on the floor with Ruby in her arms where there was evidences of vomit on her face and a little in her hair where it was caught.

Ruby's eyes were red from crying with tears still falling down her face, and vomit in the strands of her hair. Summer immediately made her way to Ruby's side as she opened the first aid kit to use some cloth to clean Ruby up.

Not sure what she could do, Neo just stood there looking at Ruby the girl she was laughing and smiling, but now she saw Ruby with just a defeated look in her eyes.

"Alright I've cleaned her up best I can, could you two take her home for me please? I won't be long." Summer asked the two girls.

"Of course, I'll make sure she gets home safe." Blake said before turning to Neo, "Neo, could you give me a hand please?"

Moving forward Neo helped Blake pick up the unconscious girl and carry her out of the toilet, Summer calling out, "Thank you girls, I'll be around shortly." She said as she started cleaning up the mess.

"Where does she live?" Neo asked as they got her outside.

"In the flats just over there." Blake said, motioning with her head towards a series of flats right next to the restaurant.

It took the two women almost ten minutes to carry the light woman up towards her flat, luckily the building had an elevator making it easy to carry Ruby to her top floor flat.

It didn't take them long to reach Ruby's flat, using Ruby's keys to open up the door the pair of them were able to move Ruby into the flat and lay her onto her own bed.

"Would you mind waiting here for Summer? I need to go back to help Yang get home." Blake asked the girl.

"Oh uh, sure." Neo said, surprised at being put on the spot like this.

"Thank you, don't worry about Ruby she'll be fine in the morning." Blake said, giving Neo a comforting smile.

Neo stood awkwardly in Ruby's room, unsure what to do. She looked around the room to see the room was almost bare and had a few pictures up on the wall.

The first picture she saw was of a younger Ruby with what seemed to be Summer, both of them had wide smiles while holding up surf boards.

The next picture was an older Ruby who was lifted up on Yang's shoulders holding a trophy in her hands while another girl with long white hair laughed at the two of them, 'Maybe it's the first one she won.' Neo thought to herself.

The final picture was Ruby and the girl with long white hair again, hugging tightly wearing bikinis on a beach with Ruby kissing the girl on the lips.

Blushing at the picture she turned away to find Summer already in the room looking at Neo with a slight smile.

"Thank you for helping Ruby get back tonight, she's not normally this bad." Summer explained as she sat on the edge of Ruby's bed, stroking her hair.

"You're her mother aren't you?" Neo blurted out, covering her mouth as she realised what she had said.

"That I am, Summer Rose. It's a pleasure to meet you." Summer said, holding out her hand to Neo.

Neo nodded mutely as she took the hand, Summer looked like an older version of Ruby. Her hair was much long then Ruby's and a darker shade of red. She wore black trousers with a black shirt with the restaurant's name sown onto her breast.

"I see you noticed the pictures, they're the only ones Ruby would put up." Summer pointed out.

"Really? She looks so happy and carefree in them." Neo stated.

"That's because she was, I brought her up with surfing and she absolutely loved it. It was hard to get her off the board at times." Summer said, a smile spreading across her face as her eyes lit up at the memory.

"I can tell, she was helping me out earlier." Neo stated.

"Really?" Summer asked, surprised at the news.

"Um yeah she did, is it rare?" Neo asked, unsure at the change in Summer's attitude.

"She hasn't done it for about four years, since meeting Weiss." Summer informed her.

"Could you tell me about that?" Neo asked, wanting to know more.

"Of course, why don't we let Ruby sleep while we talk in the living room?" Summer gently suggested as both women moved into the living room.

Summer made the pair tea while sitting down as she started saying, "It's quite funny looking back on it now, and Weiss was quite stubborn. She wanted to learn how to surf without help and it was lucky Ruby was back from Portugal on a short break from chasing big waves." Summer started to explain.

"Big waves?" Neo asked, confused.

"Sorry. Ruby had a thrill doing competitions but she wanted something to get her blood running faster, so her uncle suggested surfing large waves. She trained for ages for it under her uncle to get to the level needed and she did and started surfing them. After she started dating Weiss she stopped it but I fear she's going back to do it." Summer said, concern dominant in her voice.

"Is it dangerous?" Neo asked, not knowing much about surfing especially the large waves.

"Extremely, if you make one mistake and aren't prepared or properly trained for it you could die, people have died. She's had a few close escapes early on and I only found out because my brother Qrow told me." Summer said.

"Anyway, Weiss had some trouble learning to surf and Ruby was out in the water relaxing when she saw her in trouble. So she went over to offer some advice and help her but she flatly refused her. Ruby didn't give up though and eventually Weiss agreed and over the course of a few months of being friends they became an item." Summer said smiling warmly at the memory.

"They were always together and going to secluded surf spots to be alone together so Ruby couldn't really help people. They were at a competition for Ruby at Hawaii a year ago. I don't know about the incident but I saw the aftermath and heard second hand about it." Summer explained.

"They were at a secluded spot where a shark attacked Weiss, I later learnt that she was almost dead but that didn't stop Ruby from driving her to the nearest hospital in record time. Sadly it wasn't enough but she held on for a few days." Summer explained sadly.

"That's horrible." Neo said, unsure what to really say.

"It was, Ruby dropped out of the competition immediately and moved back here, that was a year ago." Summer said.

"How is Ruby? She seemed fine except for the meal." Neo said.

"She normally hides it but I guess it's just the day. But as I said she hasn't helped someone surf for a long time, maybe this will be good for her." Summer informed her.

"Anyway you can stay the night if you wish, unless you have to get back." Summer offered.

"Um I'm only just in the hotel over there." Neo said, pointing in the general direction of the hotel.

"Ah I see, well I'll walk you back. Ruby will be fine." Summer said happily.

Neo didn't want to refuse as it seemed the woman still wanted to say something or do something but the entire trip back Summer didn't say another word, until they got to the entrance of the hotel.

"Here, this is Ruby's number. Once she's slept off her hangover she might want to talk to you again, or maybe you want to talk to her. Give it some thought." Summer said with a knowing smile as she left Neo in the entrance of the hotel.

* * *

The next morning it seemed the Heavens opened with the odd clap of thunder as well, it seemed surfing was completely out of the question.

She debated calling Ruby but in the end she settled with a text as she was eating breakfast. _'It's Neo, your mom gave me your number. Are you ok?'_ Neo asked.

The reply was almost instant, which surprised Neo as she expected Rub to be sleeping until late. _'I'm sorry about last night. I'm fine, how are you? What are your plans for today?'_ Came the quick reply.

 _'I don't know. Originally surfing but with the thunder and lightning around I won't be able to get in.'_ Neo replied back.

 _'I need to head into Barnstable to get some things, would you like to come with?'_ Ruby asked.

Neo thought to herself, and once she checked with her parents who were going out to a small harbour town to explore today she was able to go so she texted back, _'I can. What time?_ '

 _'Now if you're ready.'_ Ruby texted back quickly.

 _'I am, where should I meet you?'_

 _'In the lobby, I'll be there in a minute.'_

Neo quickly got her grey boots on and went downstairs to the lobby, waiting for Ruby as she double checked her outfit. Which consisted of brown trousers, black t-shirt and a short white jacket on top of that.

She heard a horn coming from outside and she spotted Ruby waving to her inside a large land rover. Climbing inside Neo couldn't help but comment, "Big car." Offhandedly.

"It's my mothers, I ride a bike but I can't really ride it in this weather." Ruby informed her as she pulled away from the hotel and started heading up the cliff.

"That sounds more like you. So what do you need in the town?" Neo asked.

"Nothing really, just wanted to get away for a little bit." Ruby said.

"What about your friends?" Neo asked.

"We're all meeting up later, hoping the weather clears a bit so we can get in the water. Most are leaving at the end of the week." Ruby informed her.

"What do they do?" Neo asked, interested to see what they do.

"We're all trained lifeguards and do part time work with them, I even do some for the RNLI as well when I can. The band you saw travel with the surf competitions and play there but in the off season they have full time work at a few places. Yang and the others all train in the off season but Yang works in a gym while Coco works in the fashion industry and Blake writes books. Oh and Velvet works with Coco as well." Ruby explained, telling her briefly of each job.

"What books does Blake write? I might know them." Neo inquired.

"Ah it's unlikely you know what she writes, she uses a fake name to publish them as well." Ruby said, avoiding the topic.

"Maybe I want to have a read of them." Neo said.

"The series is called Ninja's of Love." Ruby informed her, blushing lightly.

"I know that series, it's one of my favourites. You say Blake writes them?" Neo asked excitedly.

"Yeah she does, if she's not surfing she's writing, if she's not writing she's reading." Ruby said happily, telling her about her friend.

"Wow, but that series is so good. I love the two main characters." Neo said happily.

"Um you do know the type of books they are right? That doesn't make you uncomfortable?" Ruby asked carefully.

"Nope. I'm not uncomfortable about my own sexuality. I'm happily gay." Neo said proudly causing Ruby to laugh.

"Well then I guess that's good then." Ruby replied back, laughing slightly at Neo's antics.

"So what do you do Ruby? You said you work part time for the lifeguard and RNLI but you don't do that all year." Neo asked.

"I do in the winter, it's a little busier in the winter but otherwise I don't really do much. I used to pro-surf but I don't anymore. I'm likely to go back to hunting larger waves with my uncle, I've got enough prize money to sustain me for quite a few years before I need to get a job full time." Ruby informed her, growing quieter as she spoke almost seemingly a practised speech.

"But isn't that dangerous?" Neo asked, noticing how Ruby grew quieter as she spoke about herself.

"It is, but it's also very rewarding and fun." Ruby said, getting back to her normal self.

"But can't you die?" Neo asked.

"You can, but we all die in the end so what does it matter a few years early?" Ruby said casually as she started pulling into the car park.

Neo was shocked at how casual Ruby was being about this and almost shouted at her, "What! Ruby you shouldn't be so casual about it. You could die and you don't care?" Neo said.

Ruby just shrugged at her concern, "So? We all die, I could die tomorrow from seemingly nothing." Ruby replied.

"Yes but you should want to extend your life, not bloody end it early." Neo exclaimed.

Ruby looked towards Neo harshly as she said, "So what? It's my life not yours, why the fuck do you care?" Ruby spat out.

"I like you, I don't want you to die. And I bet your friends wouldn't want you to either." Neo replied back just as harshly.

"What would you know? You've only known me for barely a day." Ruby spat back.

"I know a lot. You should have seen yourself last night. You had thrown up everywhere and looked like death itself." Neo returned back, her voice slightly breaking.

Ruby looked at Neo, seeing unshed tears in her eyes. Sighing out Ruby just said, "Have you eaten?" She asked, seeing a no she said, "Let's get some breakfast then." Ruby said.

They didn't speak on the matter more as Ruby led her over to a small breakfast café as the pair sat down to have breakfast.

They spoke about all sorts of things during breakfast, Neo told Ruby about her time in school and what she was studying alongside what she wanted to do in life, although she was unsure about where to go.

"Did you always know what you wanted to do?" Neo asked.

"Not really, originally I was training up for some engineering position. I completed my training however I fell into competitive surfing. I always competed at a young age but wanted a backup in case it went wrong, until I started to get really good at it and followed it full time." Ruby explained.

"You're trained as an engineer? What sort?" Neo asked, surprised that Ruby had trained as one.

"Would it sound strange if I said it was in weapon technology?" Ruby asked teasingly.

"Really? I wouldn't think someone like you would be into that." Neo replied.

Ruby just shrugged her shoulders in response, "I was always interested in it but it was only as a backup, at the time I was scouted by a few companies but when I followed surfing I had to turn them down, although I did get quite a few sponsorships when I started winning." Ruby informed her.

"So in the end you had that as your full time career." Neo stated.

"Yep, it's really enjoyable." Ruby replied honestly as she finished her food.

"But isn't it hard? Being competitive all the time?" Neo asked.

"Not really, I'm not competitive. I just find them all fun, I get to be out in the water and surf while getting paid for it. I surf pretty much all year round because I enjoy it, and because I'm good at it I win." Ruby replied.

"But what about the others?" Neo asked.

"Some take it too seriously and they loss the fun and carefree nature some people get with surfing, it's why I come home when I can in order to get that nature back." Ruby answered, paying for their meal as Neo finished.

"Come on, there's a food market on today." Ruby informed her, getting the woman to follow her through the town to a large open market hall.

Inside were different stools step up by different people selling all sorts of foods ranging from fruit and vegetables to brownies and other cakes.

Ruby moved easily through the throngs of people around all the different stools as Neo struggled to follow behind her as she tried not to get lost in the crowd.

Finally they reached a stool at the back where a woman with long pink hair was standing behind a stool full of different types of cakes and deserts, laid out on a plate were a load of chocolate chip cookies.

As soon as the woman saw Ruby and Neo her face brightened up as she said, "Ruby! It's so great to see you. Who's this cute girl with you?" The woman asked, causing Neo to blush brightly.

"Hello Skye, this is Neo. She's from American and visiting our part of the country for a little bit." Ruby informed the woman, hugging her over the table.

"Ah I see. How are you enjoying it here?" The woman, Skye asked.

"Um it's fun here, great people although it's really different than the US." Neo replied, awkward at being put on the spot.

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying it. So what can I get you?" Skye asked.

They chose some cakes and Ruby paid for them, over Neo's protests. After that they bid goodbye to Skye and carried on around the town for a little bit longer before heading back to the sea side town.

On the drive back the skies had cleared although the beach wasn't as busy as it would normally be during the Summer which meant the pair could easily get into the water.

"You can drop your stuff off and bring a change of clothes over to my apartment. I'll set you up with some gear as well." Ruby said, pulling up outside Neo's hotel.

"Sure, I won't be long." Neo said and quickly rushed inside. Grabbing her swimming outfit, or rather her bikini that she wore underneath the wetsuit.

 **A/N**

 **Do you ever just have that feeling of tightness in your chest when you're going to speak to someone? Especially someone you don't know but want to speak to, even if it's online but you don't because you feel you might say something wrong or might just annoy them? Does this feeling ever happen to you?**

 **Sorry, random thought from last night. Not too much to talk about, I think either Wednesday's or Tuesdays will be the day I'll update, not sure yet.**

 **Progress has been rather slow on things as I'm constantly changing things. I'll have a Legends Christmas story and a special thing for star wars for when that releases.**

 **Other than that not too much to talk about. I had a guest reviewer on my Without a Reason story, thank you so much for that but I just wished you weren't a guest so I could thank you through PM but never mind.**

 **That's pretty much it, ironically talking about death in this had a near death experience today, or rather my boss/brother in law did and in a way I almost did.**

 **Oh and Barnstable is a real place and this brilliant closedish market as well and if anyone knows the harbour town than internet cookie to you.**

 **Until next time. ^_^**

 **(Disclaimer if at all in this chapter, previous or future chapters if I refer to Mavericks I mean Big waves and I just fucked up but I think I caught all of them)**


	5. Chapter 5

" _She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did."_

― _Markus Zusak, The Book Thief_

 **Chapter 5-**

With that in a bag plus some other clothes as well she left the hotel with a quick word to her parents about where she would be as she went over to Ruby's apartment.

Knocking on the door once she entered the main building itself, she waited patiently for it to open, but when it did she couldn't help but blush heavily.

Ruby stood in front of her, dressed only in her red bikini but she hasn't put the top on correctly just yet so it was a little loose and revealing.

"Hey." Ruby said, not noticing Neo's look. Until she had finished putting the top on. "Oh sorry, I forget that most people aren't as comfortable about getting changed and nakedness." Ruby commented as she invited Neo inside.

"You can get changed in the bathroom if you want. I promise not to peak." Ruby teased with a smile as she showed Neo where the bathroom was.

"Thanks." Neo mumbled, blushing heavily still. Unsure what it was that made her blush, the fact that Ruby teased her about peaking or the fact that Neo wouldn't mind if Ruby peaked.

Once she had changed she gathered up her clothes and left the bathroom to find Ruby, it didn't take long as Ruby was in her bedroom which was where Neo checked first.

"Hey." Ruby said, her wetsuit half on and half off.

"Hey, I'm changed." Neo said awkwardly, unsure what to say.

"I can see that." Ruby replied with a large smile and a wink as she looked over Neo's body.

Neo blushed as she stood there awkwardly but saw that Ruby was teasing her, which only made her blush more.

"Anyway here. See if this fits." Ruby said, handing Neo a long sleeved wetsuit.

"Thanks." Neo said, taking the wetsuit and started to pull it on. It took her a few minutes to do so but once it was on she found some areas to be a little loose but otherwise it fit fine.

In that time Ruby had gotten her own wetsuit on and once Neo had finished she smiled and took her out of the flat.

"You're clothes and stuff will be safe in here." Ruby said, her wetsuit sitting at her waist and revealed a small pouch sitting between her breasts. A key sitting inside. "Come on we need some boards." Ruby said, leading Neo downstairs towards her garage.

"Be careful, the fumes shouldn't be around but I'm always wary." Ruby commented as she opened the door.

Inside the rather large garage, along the walls and ceiling were all different size surfboards, but nothing like the soft blue topped ones Neo was using the day before but instead hard topped boards.

"Here." Ruby said, pulling out a black and green surfboard and slid it over to Neo.

Taking a hold of the board Neo held it next to her as she saw it was a complete head above her but still wasn't too heavy.

"It's yours. I know you might be unable to take it home but it's yours whenever you're here." Ruby commented as she pulled her own red and black board.

"I can't take this. It must cost a fortune." Neo stated.

"Nope. I make all my own boards and materials don't cost too much, it's yours. Keep it." Ruby said, not taking no for an answer as she closed up the garage and started walking towards the beach.

"The others are already in the water, we better catch up." Ruby said, taking off in a light jog with Neo close behind.

They spent the rest of the day out on the water surfing, it took a little bit of time for Neo to get used to surfing on the hard top board but she managed to get the hang of it with Ruby's help.

Neo got along well with the others in the group but she felt herself outclassed by the other surfers in the group who were catching waves and standing easily.

At one point where Neo was alone floating in the water, the others were wading back through the water out to them again leaving Neo with Velvet who arrived back first.

"What's wrong?" Velvet asked, seeing Neo looking a little upset.

"I just feel so out of place. You're all great surfers yet here I am, without a clue what to do." Neo replied.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Are you having fun?" Velvet asked.

"I am. I love it, but I just feel weird hanging out with you guys." Neo said.

"You shouldn't, we're all ordinary people who enjoy hanging out. If anything, we're jealous of you." Velvet told her with a large smile.

"Jealous…of me?" Neo asked, confused as to why they would be jealous of her.

"That board. It's one of Ruby's own creations, right?" Velvet asked.

"Uh yeah, she sort of just gave it to me. Said I could keep it and she'd store it for me if I couldn't take it home." Neo replied.

"Exactly. She's never done that before, for anyone. Not even…." Velvet said but trailed off.

"I know about Weiss." Neo told her softly.

Velvet seemed shocked by this but didn't comment instead saying, "Well she's never given anyone one of her creations before, so you're a first." Velvet told her smile back on her face as the others joined them.

This seemed to spark Neo's spirits back up as she felt special with what Ruby had entrusted to her by giving her this board. Whenever she looked over to Velvet she saw the woman smiling towards her, almost knowingly.

The rest of the day was something Neo enjoyed, once getting past the fact that the others were better than she was it allowed her to enjoy herself more.

Once they had decided to call it a day from the night settling in they all went their separate ways, although Neo went with Ruby back to her flat.

Arriving back she was directed into the bathroom again and handed a towel with Ruby saying, "You can use the shower if you want, I'll leave your clothes by the door for you." Ruby informed her, leaving her in peace.

Neo still dripping from the water peeled herself out of her wetsuit, wringing it out as best she could into the shower before putting it on the ground, unsure what exactly to do with it.

Turning the shower on she waited for it to heat up enough as she stripped down and climbed inside, using some of the body wash and shampoo in there with her.

She heard a light knock on the door as she was just finishing up, guessing it was Ruby telling her that her clothes were at the door for her.

Climbing out of the shower she wrapped herself in a tower and opened the door slightly to grab her clothes alongside the note on top.

'Having a shower and getting dressed. Make yourself at home. R.'

Neo smiled at the note as she dried herself and her hair as best she could before getting dressed once more, however choosing to leave her jacket off and instead just keep the t-shirt and trousers on but put her jacket over the back of a chair in the living room.

Sitting down Neo turned on the TV while she waited patiently for Ruby to finish up and come inside. She was nervous at being in someone's flat without the other person and more nervous about what exactly was going to happen now.

Was Ruby going to kick her out and tell her to go back to her hotel or would they hang out together a little more today. Neo had all this going through her mind that she didn't hear Ruby come in.

"You know a cute face like yours shouldn't be so wound up with worry." Ruby commented teasingly.

Neo blushed again and turned around to look at Ruby but blushed even more as she saw what Ruby was wearing. She only wore the same hot pants from earlier and a small, loose fitting top over her bra.

"Like what you see?" Ruby teased, turning around and shaking her ass at Neo a little.

Neo didn't reply but turned away, her face bright red from the teasing.

"Aww I'm sorry, I'm only playing. Sorry." Ruby said, leaning over Neo's shoulder.

"You're being mean." Neo whined out playfully.

"I'm sorry, you just looked so nervous that I had to do something to cheer you up." Ruby said, sad that she had annoyed Neo and worried.

Neo just laughed as she reached over and pulled Ruby over the back of the couch and both fell to the floor laughing.

Quickly getting payback Ruby jumped up and onto Neo and started to tickle her sides as revenge for the sneaky move beforehand.

It was almost half an hour later when the two, breathless and slightly tired from their messing around it wasn't until Ruby spoke up that they were quiet.

"Would you care to stay for dinner? I'm sure I've got something here to eat or we could get chippy." Ruby asked.

"Chippy?" Neo asked, unsure what exactly that meant.

"Sorry, fish and chips. Fancy that?" Ruby asked.

"Sure." Neo said, and telling Ruby what she wanted she was told to wait here and make herself at home while Ruby went to get their dinner.

It didn't take long for Ruby to return home with a bag of food, and putting them on plates the two ate in relative quiet with Ruby clearing up afterwards though Neo attempted to help but was pushed away to the couch.

"Why don't you stay the night? It's quite late." Ruby said, noticing the time for the first time that was well past nine at night.

Neo heard the offer there, it was clear that it wasn't hard for Neo to go home but it was more the weight behind the offer that made Neo say yes. So instead of going to bed or heading home the pair sat up watching movies on the TV, sitting on the couch.

They didn't know when it happened but somehow during the movie Neo had fallen asleep and ended up leaning against Ruby sometime during her sleep.

Waking up in the middle of the night, leaning against a still awake Ruby she was unsure what to do as Ruby seemed to be talking to her.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I overreacted today. I shouldn't have shouted at you, it's just…no one's ever really mentioned it. They all let me have my own path, my uncle warned me of the risks but no one ever said anything about it." Ruby said awkwardly.

"Why?" Neo asked softly, surprising Ruby but she quickly recovered.

"Why what?" Ruby asked just as softly.

"Why has no one mentioned it to you? Surely your mother or…um well she mentioned it to me yesterday." Neo said, avoiding the topic of Weiss.

"It's alright to say her name. My mother, she believes that you should find your own path. Even if she worries she doesn't tell me, but I guess it's obvious really." Ruby said.

"What about Weiss? You stopped for her didn't you?" Neo asked carefully.

Ruby smiled sadly although she wasn't looking at Neo but instead off into space and out the window, which was conveniently pointed towards the beach.

"She never spoke about it, sometimes I doubt she even knew what it was. I just sort of stopped, I knew the risks and so I just stopped but I've never had it pointed out before." Ruby explained softly and distant.

"I'm sorry." Neo said, unsure what to say back.

Ruby just smiled at Neo looking down at her, "There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm glad that someone really said it to me. I don't think I'm going to go back to it, it's fun and thrilling but if something goes wrong, well I don't want it to. Made me think on what I've been doing." Ruby said kindly.

"What you've been doing?" Neo asked, confused at what Ruby meant exactly.

"I'm feeling rather tired now. Do you want to move into a bed?" Ruby asked.

"Could we stay like this a little while longer?" Neo asked. Enjoying how they were sat as she was comfortable.

"Of course." Ruby said warmly as Neo closed her eyes again.

 **A/N**

 **I'm not really sure what to say, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I've been having a shit few days and writings been hard for me alongside a few other things.**

 **I'm working on a Christmas special for Legends which I'm trying deadly hard to get finished for Christmas around other things.**

 **Anyway until next time. ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

" _She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did."_

― _Markus Zusak, The Book Thief_

 **Chapter 6-**

The next morning Neo woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs, slowly opening her eyes she saw she was laid down on the couch and Ruby had moved alongside being covered by a blanket.

"Morning." Ruby said from the kitchen warmly that made Neo feel warm inside.

"Morning." Neo said sleepily.

Smiling Ruby placed a plate of toast, bacon and eggs in front of Neo on the small coffee table with a knife and fork. "Here. I'm assuming you like this." Ruby said.

"I'm a vegan." Neo stated with a straight face.

"Oh…I'm so sorry." Ruby said taking the plate as she looked worried.

Neo just burst out laughing as she stopped Ruby from taking the food away, "I'm just joking. I'm not vegan, the food looks great." Neo said, taking a bite and quickly devouring all the food.

After she had finished and standing in the kitchen as Ruby annoyingly washed up again against Neo's protests she asked, "So what are you doing today?" She asked.

"Well the weathers clear and I've got my friends down for the week so we're going to get into the water before we head out to my mother's house. She lives not far away so we'll spend the day in the water with her as well before going back there." Ruby explained.

"Oh I see." Neo said, trying to sound happy but failing slightly.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, confused as to why Neo seemed upset.

"Nothing. Just I was sort of hoping to spend the day with you as well but you're going to be with your friends." Neo said.

"What? You're invited as well. Did you think you weren't included?" Ruby said, clear as to why Neo seemed upset.

"I did." Neo said, looking down in shame.

"It's fine Neo. You're here for a week as well before you go home, if you want to join us than you can. All I'm sorry for is the fact we'll mostly be surfing for the week. Any time you don't want to join us you don't have to, but I rather enjoy hanging out with you and so do the others." Ruby stated.

"Really?" Neo asked, unsure she heard Ruby correctly.

"Of course. You're fun to hang out with and fit in nicely, come on I want to see you in that lovely bikini." Ruby teased with a wink, making Neo blush but brighten up.

The pair got changed and headed outside, where Summer was in the water and stood out with the white and black wetsuit she wore.

The rest of the day and the next few after that the pair with Ruby's friends, soon becoming Neo's friends as well had all met up to surf and would do something different each evening for dinner although each evening Ruby and Neo spent it together at her house, so much so that Neo had pretty much moved her suitcase there, or at least a smaller one.

It was on the third to last day of the week that Ruby and Neo were sitting together on that couch, watching TV as Ruby was playing with Neo's hair, something she started to do on the second day.

"Can we talk about what happened that first night?" Neo asked softly, having not seen or heard anything more mentioned about that night.

"What exactly do you want to know?" Ruby replied. Having been a pretty open book with Neo whenever she asked anything since their talk about Ruby surfing big waves.

"The bathroom…how we found you, it wasn't nice." Neo said softly, sounding sad and worried at the same time.

"Oh that…I uh…drunk a little too much and vomited. I don't tend to drink that much too often." Ruby replied, but she knew it wasn't what Neo meant.

"The blood. I uh, scratched myself quite badly and a lot. It all healed up overnight as it wasn't that bad, looked worse than it actually was." Ruby said.

"But why did you do that?" Neo asked, she understood why people would cut themselves but Neo also knew that perhaps talking about the reason would help Ruby.

"I don't know…I just…just missed her you know? We used to be together almost constantly and then suddenly she just wasn't here anymore. I was just alone and well, that night it just reminded me of how alone I am." Ruby said, her voice soft.

"You're not alone." Neo stated, "Look at all your friends, I'm sure they'll happily come if you give them a call or if you just want to see them…even…even me. If you ever feel alone or just want to talk I'll make time to talk to you. I know it's not even been a week but I feel close to you, closer than anyone before." Neo explained rather shyly, looking away.

Ruby remained silent. Worried that she said something wrong Neo turned to look at Ruby but found silent tears falling down her face. Instead of speaking Neo just enveloped Ruby into a hug and waited patiently.

"Thank you." Ruby whispered, "I think someone just needed to remind me of that. I've got friends I can talk to, I'm not really alone. And I feel close to you as well, I don't know why exactly but I just do. I feel comfortable with you. And well, no one's ever spoken to me like you have before." Ruby replied.

Ruby remained silent on anything else as she was pretty sure where this was going between the two she remained quiet as not to scare Neo but also because she felt it was wrong, so soon.

The next day the pair woke up like normal, however while Ruby normally woke up before Neo and was making breakfast instead she was still hugging Neo, asleep.

Neo smiled warmly as she enjoyed the feeling of waking up in someone's arms, but it was interrupted when her phone went off.

Trying to keep it quiet she reached over and grabbed it, reading the text to herself from her parents asking to see her that morning.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked softly, eyes closed.

"Huh? Oh. My parents want to see me this morning." Neo said.

"I see. What's the time now?" Ruby asked.

"Um…about seven?" Neo said, looking at her phone for the time.

"We've got plenty of time then." Ruby said, hugging Neo tighter as she started to go back to sleep.

An hour later they were both up, eaten breakfast and just finishing up getting ready for the day, at least Neo was. Leaving Ruby's flat she went over to the hotel to see her parents, who were in the restaurant attached getting breakfast.

"Hello Neo, been having fun this week?" Her mother asked as she sat down.

"It's been great. Ruby's been amazing and well, her friends are great as well. It's all so different." Neo said excitedly.

"I see. What do you plan on doing today?" Her father asked.

"Surfing again. I might go through the town a little later as well and look at a few things." Neo said.

"What about this evening for dinner?" Her mother asked.

"Um…I don't know. It changes each night, why?" Neo asked.

"Well why don't you and Ruby join us for dinner tonight? A place called Cook Island, say around seven thirty?" Her mother asked her, or rather requested of her.

"Um sure, I'll have to double check with Ruby." Neo said, confused and worried about the sudden change in her parents.

"Good. See you tonight." Her mother said with a smile as they paid for their food and left, leaving Neo alone.

Meeting up with Ruby she told her about the dinner date with her parents which Ruby agreed to if Neo was alright with it, which she was.

Smiling than the pair got changed and went out to the water, today they were the only two out there as their friends hadn't arrived yet but other people were in the water.

"Come on." Ruby said, paddling for a wave with Neo following close behind her.

Both of them caught it easily and stood up, Neo had a wide smile on her face as she was in easy control of the board and right next to Ruby who was smiling right alongside her.

"You're doing great." Ruby called out, as she turned slightly away from Neo and managed to go along the wave, even getting a little air off one.

Neo attempted to follow but was able to go along the wave, something she had been struggling to do but just did it now.

As they jumped off their boards as they started getting closer Neo raced over to Ruby and hugged her tightly, even jumping up on her.

"That was amazing. I can't believe I managed to do that." Neo shouted.

"You were great. Come a long way since that first time out on the waves." Ruby replied, albite a bit more calmly.

"It's all thanks to you. Thank you." Neo cried out, leaning down and planting a kiss right on Ruby's lips.

Stunned at first Ruby then went with it as she opened her mouth up and returned the kiss eagerly. They quickly broke apart but both wanted to kiss again but they heard Yang shouting from the shore so they quickly broke apart and waved back.

For the rest of the day they didn't kiss again nor hug but when they left the group earlier than the others they managed to wait until they got into Ruby's flat.

As soon as the door closed Neo all but assaulted Ruby, kissing her and jumping up onto her, legs wrapped around her.

Ruby supported Neo as she returned the kisses and the pair even managed to strip each other of their wetsuits.

But as Neo moved her hand underneath Ruby's bikini top something seemed to snap in Ruby as she all but fell backwards off of Neo and onto the floor.

"I…I can't…I'm sorry…Weiss I'm sorry." Ruby cried out as she sprinted out of her flat and somewhere outside.

 **A/N**

 **So I don't know why but I feel like this may look rushed, but it's a little hard to just go through every day when certain things are the same, I sort of just skip things and go to important parts like on the evenings or mornings.**

 **Also yeah, left that in a nice position didn't I? And sorry for not updating on Tuesday, was asleep all day after being ill the day before so I give the chapter to you a day later.**

 **Might actually be editing next week's chapter a little bit more, but I've also got to finish my Christmas one shot at some point as well. And once more sorry if things look rushed but it's something taking place over a week, so what do you expect?**

 **Also I've got a special one shot coming out tomorrow as well.**

 **Until next time. ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

" _She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did."_

― _Markus Zusak, The Book Thief_

 **Chapter 7-**

Neo just sat stunned on the bed, not really registering what happened as one minute she was prepared to have sex with Ruby and then suddenly she was gone.

It wasn't until a knock on the door stirred her from her starring at the wall. Getting up from the bed, still in her bikini she opened the door to face a tall, white haired woman.

"Ruby. I'm sorry I couldn't make it, but I've got big news for you." The woman said before she realised that Ruby wasn't in front of her.

"Wait. You're not Ruby. Who are you?" She asked.

"Um…I'm Neo. Who are you?" Neo asked.

"Winter Schnee at your service." The woman said, bowing dramatically at the waist.

"Um hello." Neo said awkwardly.

"Can I come in?" Winter asked.

"Uh sure. But Ruby's not here." Neo said.

"Where is she? And who are you to her?" Winter asked.

"Um she…I don't know. Either of those questions." Neo said, mournful and confused.

Winter immediately picked up on Neo's sadness and confusion so said, "Let's go sit down shall we? And you can tell me everything that's happened with dear Ruby." Winter said.

Over the next half an hour Neo explained everything that happened over the last week, even revealing the fact she had feelings for Ruby which was awkward once Winter revealed who her sister was, and to Ruby which came out when Neo mentioned what Ruby had said.

She blushed when she explained about nearly having sex with Ruby and what she had said once Ruby ran off.

"Ok, why don't you stay here and get ready for the meal with your parents? I think I know where Ruby's gone. I won't be long." Winter said, thus leaving Neo alone inside Ruby's flat.

Trying to take her mind off things she went to get a shower and get ready for dinner with her parents, worried about Ruby throughout.

* * *

Winter knew where Ruby would go, she had gotten to know the woman first when she entered competitions and then later on when Ruby dated Weiss, oh she knew their parents were close as well and kept in contact.

Going down to the beach, at this time there were very few surfers in the sea, and only one dressed in only a bikini in the freezing cold water.

She saw Ruby catch a wave and come close to the shore so she shouted out. "Ruby Rose! Come here now or I'll come in and get you!" Winter shouted out.

This got Ruby's attention as she immediately came into the shore and up to Winter, knowing she would go into the water in her normal clothes.

"Winter. What do you want?" Ruby asked.

"Not even a hello?" Winter teased before moving on, "Alright. I went to your house and there's a rather cute girl in there rather upset at the moment." Winter stated.

Ruby blushed and turned away from Winter, "It was a mistake. I can't go out with her." Ruby stated, already knowing that Winter had learnt what happened.

"And why not? She rather likes you or have you been leading her on for the whole week?" Winter asked.

"I wasn't leading her on. But I shouldn't have done it. It's wrong." Ruby stated.

"Who's it wrong for? You or Weiss?" Winter asked harshly.

Ruby turned around and looked at the sea, choosing not to answer Winter's question hoping she would drop it.

Winter sighed as she saw Ruby's reaction so moved to stand next to her, saying. "You know this isn't what Weiss would want. She'd want you to move on, not be lost in her memory instead of living your life. Neo told me about the conversations you had. You haven't told anyone the complete truth about your days away from home over the last year have you?" Winter asked.

"No." Ruby said.

"You need to move on Ruby, Weiss would hate it if you didn't live your life to the fullest. And I'm pretty sure that woman in your flat is quite ready to fuck you silly." Winter teased.

Blushing Ruby replied, "I don't know how. She speaks to me in ways Weiss never did, but I feel like I'm betraying her memory by moving on." Ruby stated.

"You're betraying her memory by not moving on. If Neo does things that Weiss never did for you, than I'm pretty sure she'll be right for you. But what's life without a little risk, right?" Winter said.

Ruby just nodded in response and a slight smile on her face as she shivered at a small wind coming by.

"Come on, let's get you home and ready for meeting the parents. Plus I have some big news for you." Winter said, smiling as she didn't tell Ruby what it was but it was clearly something big.

Heading back to her house they found a worried Neo sitting nervously on her couch, "I'll go get you a towel and something hot." Winter said, leaving the two alone as she went to get stuff for Ruby.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said, coming up to Neo and stopping just before her.

"It's fine. Are you ok? Were you in the water? Like that?" Neo asked quickly, worried as she saw Ruby dressed in very little.

"Um…" Ruby said, unsure how to answer that correctly.

Neo just sighed in response and waited for Winter to come back with what she said she was getting, "I forgive you. But well…I just want to know where we stand." Neo asked.

Ruby leaned forward and kissed Neo softly on her lips, breaking apart she said, "Does that answer your question? I'm sorry for running, I…uh thought I wasn't ready. I thought I was betraying Weiss' memory but I guess it took Winter to convince me otherwise." Ruby stated.

"Oh." Neo replied, blushing after the kiss and unsure what exactly they were now.

"Ok here." Winter said, coming into the room and stopping as she saw both of them close together, with Neo blushing. "I just ruined something didn't I?" Winter asked.

Unable to help herself Ruby just laughed at Winter's reaction, "You did. Pass me the towel." Ruby asked, taking the towel from Winter and wrapping it around her body.

"Anyway I'm going to get changed." Ruby said, leaving them alone as she went to shower and get changed.

"So what happened?" Winter asked, sitting down on the couch.

"Nothing, she said sorry and when I asked about where we stand, she kissed me. And explained why she ran." Neo told her.

"That's great. When's the dinner with your parents?" Winter asked.

"Um we've got about forty five minutes, why?" Neo replied.

"Ah good, just enough time than. I've got some big news for Ruby." Winter said excitedly.

Fifteen minutes later Ruby came back dressed in simple black jeans, plain white t-shirt and a red and black flannel shirt over the top.

"So what's this news?" Ruby asked, sitting down next to Neo and hugging her.

Winter stood up and moved to sit on the edge of the coffee table in front of them, "Alright so remember when you went on your trips with your uncle to surf the big waves in Portugal?" Winter asked.

"Uh sure I do." Ruby said, glancing at Neo.

"Wait. I thought you said you were thinking of doing it not actually doing it." Neo stated. Glaring at Ruby.

"Um well you see. I went on weekend trips a few times over the last year and well I was surfing big waves, to keep my skills sharp." Ruby replied, unsure how to take Neo's reaction.

"Anyway the past couple times there's been someone there watching. Seems Qrow was tipping them off." Winter commented.

"Tipping who off?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Well Tukson has been watching you surf out there." Winter stated.

"Tukson? Really? Why?" Ruby asked, surprised at the revelation.

"Who's Tukson?" Neo asked, confused at the excitement.

"Tukson is a great surfer, he's also head of the committee that decides who's invited to the Titans of Mavericks surf competition. So why's he been watching me?" Ruby asked.

"Well you've been invited to compete in November, waves permitting." Winter informed her.

"Wait…what? But I haven't been in competitions for a year and certainly not in any big wave ones, how did I get invited?" Ruby asked stunned at the news.

Neo sat next to Ruby stunned at the news, hearing that the competition related to much larger waves scared Neo but even more the fact that this must be the most dangerous if it's invite only as she could assume.

"Well he saw something out there and put forward a case to get you invited and well, they all agreed when he showed them a video of something. Don't know what." Winter told her.

"Look you've got a little bit of time to decide, but I think you need to get to dinner, right?" Winter asked.

"Yeah…yeah we do. Are you ready Neo?" Ruby asked, turning to see the stunned Neo knowing that they were going to talk later about this.

"I am." Neo said a little weakly.

"Well I'll leave you two to enjoy, I'm staying at your mothers if you need me. Oh and I'll be going tomorrow night." Winter said, leaving the pair alone.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked once Winter had left.

"I'm fine. Come on." Neo said, getting her boots on and following Ruby outside.

They both knew the discussion later would be big but Neo was willing to hear Ruby's side of it first but she worried what she might do and what would happen between them as it was a rather blurred line at the moment.

This was the first time Neo was able to go onto Ruby's bike, and it was clear she liked to go fast as they raced up the hill outside of the bay and they seemed to reach the restaurant in almost record speed.

Dinner with her parents were weird, she introduced Ruby as a friend, and unsure what she could really say otherwise.

Her parents seemed to like Ruby, asking her questions about what it was she did and about her surfing as they knew she was a pro surfer.

It went fine until Ruby needed to use the restroom and excused herself from the table briefly, leaving Neo alone with her parents.

"She seems nice." Her dad said.

"She is, perfect match it looks like as well." Her mother said, leading Neo to blush as she realised what they were talking about.

"What are you two talking about?" Neo asked.

"Please dear, we aren't blind. We can see you two like each other. We're just trying to let you know we approve." Her mother stated.

Ruby returned just after that comment with a large smile as she sat down and when she got talking about her back up if surfing didn't work out it surprised the two parents as it seemed rather a stark change from surfer to a weapons engineer.

Dinner was a large success it looked like on the way home as Ruby fit in with her parents and both of them said they liked the girl but they reminded Neo that tomorrow was her last day here before they returned home.

That presented another problem as Neo lived in the US and Ruby lived in the UK, she was unsure what that would do to their relationship, if they even had one.

Getting into Ruby's flat they removed their shoes silently and went onto the couch hugging together when they started to talk.

"Where should we start?" Ruby asked gently.

"How about the weekends surfing with your uncle?" Neo replied, trying not to sound harsh or upset but failing that.

"I'm not completely blind to how my family worry but…well I couldn't help it. It's the thrill, it's so fun knowing that just one mistake could mean something disastrous and well I didn't care about the risks so I took them. I'm sorry if you're angry." Ruby said.

"I'm not angry, I'm just upset that you lied to me about it." Neo replied.

"I just…I just didn't want anyone to worry but I guess I've done something worse haven't I?" Ruby asked.

"No. You've already done it so there's nothing we can change about the past, all I wish is that you told me. What's this event then? It sounds dangerous if it's invite only." Neo asked next.

"It is. People have died at that spot, but it's the biggest and most sought after big wave competition. I've never been working towards it, I just like surfing big waves for fun but this event. For someone like me, it's once in a lifetime, it's safe but you can't completely take out the risks. If you don't want me to, I won't do it." Ruby said firmly.

"You…wouldn't do it?" Neo asked, stunned at hearing how big this event was for Ruby and that she'd give it up.

"For you? Yeah I would. If you don't want me to do this, I won't. I care more about being with you than this event." Ruby said just as firmly again.

"What about us? I mean tomorrow is our last day together, after that I fly back to America and you stay here." Neo said sadly.

"I like you, a lot. More than Weiss I think, there are ways to keep in contact. Phone, Skype. Hell I'll even fly over to see you. If you want to be with me, then we'll find a way to keep it together." Ruby replied, her voice firm and determined.

"I do want to be with you." Neo said, leaning up to kiss Ruby.

"We'll find a way then." Ruby replied, kissing Neo back.

They kept on kissing for what felt like hours before they finally began talking about.

"I think I might go back to doing competitions. Not the big wave stuff, but other competitions. I'd need to train but I think I'll be able to do it again." Ruby said.

"Do it. I'll support you in whatever you do. And…and if you want to do Titans of Mavericks than do it. I wouldn't want you to miss out on something like this." Neo said.

"Really? But what about the risks? I'm happy not doing it." Ruby said again, trying to understand the sudden change in heart.

"You'll be as safe as can be out there won't you?" Receiving a nod Neo continued. "Then do it. What's life without a little risk?" Neo replied playfully.

Ruby laughed in response and kissed Neo again, breaking apart she sent Winter confirmation that she wanted to accept the invite and the two happily spent the rest of the night kissing and eventually sleeping.

 **A/N**

 **So oops, forgot to post this chapter yesterday. Blame Christmas and writing something relating to star wars rebels and RWBY.**

 **Not too much to say, I don't really know much of the event except the fact it is invite only and from the website and a movie, Chasing Mavericks which is a great surfing movie alongside Soul Surfer.**

 **So please don't be too harsh on me, and the next two/three chapters as it'll involve competition stuff which I don't know. But we're coming to the end, so shit I better get a move on with other things.**

 **Until next time. ^_^**


	8. Chapter 8

" _Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past."_

― _Dan Brown, Deception Point_

 **IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE BOTTOM!**

 **Chapter 8-**

The next day they surfed during the day but as day started to turn into night instead of all going back to their homes for dinner they remained on the beach.

They wandered down further from the town until they reached almost the other end of the beach where a hole had been dug out in the sand and filled with wood.

"Tides going to be out for quite a while we'll be fine. Want to invite your parents down? All are welcome." Ruby said, so Neo sent an invite to her parents for the bonfire.

Slowly as the daylight faded others arrive, all of Ruby's, and now Neo's friends arrived with Yang even bringing a box cooler.

They all gathered around, drinking happily but slowly. Summer arrived with an older looking Winter on her arm who was introduced as Mizu, Weiss' and Winter's mother. Winter also came as well alongside Neo's parents and the guys running the surf shop.

They started the bonfire as all the daylight faded and the fire lit everyone up in its light. All the people gathered happily gathered around and chatted with each other, Neo found herself holding conversations with most people easily and mixing well with them

As the night seemed to reach its climax, with everyone having eaten from the food brought over they all gathered around the bonfire and Ruby stepped forward to speak.

"So it's been a year. A year since Weiss left us and well, look at where we all are now? Bunch of drunks around a bonfire on a beach." Ruby joked with everyone, causing some laughs from the gathered people.

"But seriously we should cut back a little on the drinks." Ruby said with a smile, "I don't really know what to say other than this week has been one of the best in my life, for a few reasons. Meeting this cute girl is one of them." Ruby said, hugging Neo into her side, earning a few whistles from Yang and Coco.

"Anyway, it's been a year and well we've shown that we'll still live our lives and carry on. Which I think is what Weiss would have wanted the most." Ruby said, looking towards Mizu and Winter, who were both smiling gently at her.

"Yeah can you imagine what she'd think if we all sat around crying all year?" Yang laughed out, causing others to laugh as they thought of what Weiss would be saying to them, or rather shouting at them.

"Who could forget? _'What are you all doing? You should be out there enjoying yourselves you bloody idiots.'_ Coco said, doing an impression of Weiss that caused everyone to laugh.

"So seeing as this is the last time we'll all be together for a while; I have some big news." Ruby said, looking at Neo and seeing her nod in reply, "Neo and I are dating, we both like each other and well she speaks to me in ways Weiss didn't. So I hope you all welcome her." Ruby said but then teased, "So keep your eyes to yourself Yang." She teased, earning a few laughs from everyone.

"Next is somewhat bigger, depending who you ask." Ruby said. "I'm getting back into competitions, I'm going to start training again but well, over the last year I've been going big wave surfing with Qrow and the old man ratted me out it seems." Ruby said.

"Ratted you out?" She heard Velvet ask, confused at what she meant.

"Yeah he did. He got someone to watch me surfing and now, I've been invited to compete in the Titans of the Mavericks event." Ruby said, and hearing the shocked silence before resounding applause and congratulations at getting into the biggest event for surfers, although they knew the risks they happily supported Ruby's decision.

"The old man ratted me out to Tukson himself who apparently pleaded my case, for whatever reason." Ruby said to them all.

"It's because you're a great surfer." A man's voice said from behind Ruby.

Turning around Ruby came face to face with Tukson himself, in a brown jumper and white shirt, with shorts on and cut hair but noticeable side burns.

"Wait. You're here?" Ruby asked, stunned.

"I was in the area and Winter said you accepted the invite so I came to see you." The man said, holding his hand out to Ruby.

Ruby took the offered hand as they grabbed each other's wrists and got in close. "You're a great surfer, and I'm glad that you're coming. I'll see you out there on the surf." He said almost proudly before leaning in to her ear, "I'll be rooting for you." He said and with that he took his leave.

Making Ruby turn to look at Winter accusingly but couldn't hold it for long as she felt a weird rush at meeting one of her hero's and seeing that she had his support.

The rest of the night was spent enjoying conversation and with Ruby talking about competitions but saying that she didn't have much planned yet except for the Mavericks event.

When they eventually broke apart, the tide coming in and putting out the bonfire for them they all went separate ways with promises to keep in touch.

Ruby and Neo went back to the flat where they spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, kissing and making up for the time they would be apart when Neo returned home.

But with all good things they had to come to an end and that morning Ruby waved Neo off with her family as they drove off to the airport.

"You know, you should go after her and see her off completely." Mizu said from next to Ruby, watching as the car left the town.

"How come you're here?" Ruby asked, wondering why she came over to Ruby.

"Seeing your mother, but I saw you here. I'm sure you can catch up, show her how much she means to your one last time." Mizu said, walking away from Ruby.

With that idea in her mind Ruby got her bike and drove barely legal speeds to reach the airport before Neo carried on through security and where Ruby couldn't reach her.

She managed to surprised Neo as she wasn't paying attention but Ruby grabbed her from behind whispering, "Hey there. Busy?" Ruby whispered.

"Ruby!" Neo all but screamed out, turning and kissing Ruby instantly. "Why are you here?" She asked.

"I wanted to see you off." Ruby said, kissing Neo again.

They stayed like that until Neo's parents, smiles wide on their faces as they took in the scene but they needed to go through to the gate.

"Call me when you're home, ok? I'll keep Skype up so I can see you." Ruby said, kissing Neo one last time.

"I'll see you soon, ok?" Ruby said.

"Of course." Neo replied smiling wide, taking one last kiss she followed her parents through security and into the airport itself.

* * *

For the next few months Ruby divided her time between training with her uncle and talking with Neo. Quite often going into the small hours of the morning to keep talking with Neo.

Neo herself had moved on to university studying psychology of all things and would also be balancing up both speaking with Ruby and her work.

Then one day she came home from uni to discover a letter addressed to herself in handwriting she didn't completely recognise.

Opening up the letter she discovered a single ticket inside for a flight to San Francisco and a handwritten letter.

 _'Hey Neo, its Ruby._

 _Waves are all looking good for November and it seems it'll be happening. I hope I didn't presume too much but I sent a ticket to San Fran for you, I'd love for you to join me there, for your support and well. I miss you, like miss you a lot even if we talk every day._

 _My mother and her girlfriend, weird saying that about Mizu. But they'll be there with my uncle and our friends. I really hope you can make it but I understand if you can't. I better go, Qrow's waving at me. I hope to see you soon. I love you.'_

Neo held the letter against her chest, overjoyed at the letter and blushing at the same time about Ruby saying she loved her, even if it was in a letter.

She looked at the ticket again and speaking to her parents found that she'd be able to go by them but she'd have to take some of her work with her so she didn't miss out on anything.

Ruby was overjoyed at discovering she was coming to the event and Ruby told Neo all about the area as she had been with her mother before.

After what felt like years Neo arrived in the cold winter at the airport, getting her bag and passing through everything she came out in the arrivals area and kept her eyes peeled in order to find Ruby.

It wasn't hard as Ruby dyed her hair a dark red, she said to make her stand out in the water but she wasn't sure.

Running over to Ruby's arms, she was spun around as their lips met in a deep kiss. They spent give minutes just standing there kissing each other before they left the airport.

Ruby had to hire out a car as she couldn't carry Neo's stuff on her bike so they had a rather simple truck that belonged to her uncle.

Getting to the hotel where Ruby would be staying at that evening she was introduced to Qrow who said, "Ah so you're the person keeping my niece up all night long." He said rather loudly in the restaurant getting Neo to blush while Ruby laughed it off.

The next day was a day to relax while after that the first round started. Twenty-four of the best big wave surfers had all been invited to compete and they were all out there getting ready.

Neo didn't know any of the names that Ruby pointed out to her about the others nor did Neo really care as her focus was Ruby.

The bay itself had a small beach where only a few people actually watched along instead favouring the very high cliff where they could see a lot of the action. Cameras were everywhere recording or streaming the event with commentators.

There was a small fleet of boats in the water and Neo got her first glimpse of the massive waves. Some even reaching sixty-foot-high, which only served to make Neo more worried but she stayed to support Ruby no matter what.

"There's a spot on a boat for two people I want. I want you to be on there. It's the one I'll be launching off of and going back to, would you?" Ruby asked.

"Of course." Neo replied, understanding she could have anyone but she wanted her. She would later discover that Qrow was the other person on the boat with her, though he took a back seat it seemed.

The first few days were spent getting a feel for the waves and the area in general and after that time the competition began.

It lasted a week, all throughout the twenty-four surfers being widdled down. Ruby survived all throughout making it to the finals with one other surfer.

However, the week wasn't without injury, at least three of the surfers suffered broken limbs, be it leg or arm. Though one was particularly bad.

Ruby was out at the time while Neo watched from the boat when the call came in over the radio, "Surfer down. Moving to recover now, I see the board." The call came through from one of the lifeguards on a jet ski.

Neo felt her heart drop at the news, there was no confirmation on who it was that fell into the water so Neo searched for the familiar red hair and board to tell her that it was Ruby.

Luckily she saw her just going over the top of a wave, waving towards Neo making her heart stop beating so fast in concern.

At the end of the session, which Ruby advanced through to the next round, upon returning to the boat she spoke with Neo asking her, "If you want me to stop, I will. There's been a quite a few injuries." Ruby said.

"No, carry on. I was worried there for a minute because all I heard was someone was down, not who." Neo said.

"I know; I saw who went down. Some guy, they managed to get him out as he popped his head up." Ruby explained.

The next few days were rather peaceful as no more accidents happened, when Ruby got through to the final Neo felt extremely proud and they had a single day's break in between the semi's and finals meaning the day was spent with each other, just relaxing.

That evening Neo, with Ruby's family of Summer, Mizu, Winter and Qrow all went out for dinner together where they wished her good luck and said about how well she'd been doing.

The next day was like any other day, except this time only two surfers were going out. Ruby and another person, called Cardin were heading out.

Though this day the sea seemed rather rough that there were some questions that they'd be allowed out but both Ruby and Cardin wanted to go out so they agreed.

They had an hour to get the best wave they could and attain a high enough score in order to win but it was a struggle to catch any sort of wave as the sea was becoming too violent.

Ruby watched as Cardin swam back to his boat his intent clear as she climbed aboard shaking his head. Ruby, not one to give up and not wanting to give up so easily carried on, seeing her chance at a wave that was building she started to paddle and immediately jump up onto her board.

Catching the wave, she was riding it along into shore when she spotted it breaking, but not where she thought it was so she was caught up in the energy of the wave tipping forward sending her to the ocean below.

Neo, standing on the boat was watching but her view was constantly being blocked so one of the people on the boat linked her in to the commentators so she could hear what they were saying, so with one headphone in she listened to what was going on.

"Looks like Cardin's heading in, I don't blame him. It's rather vicious out there today. Wait. Is that Ruby Rose? Right there." The commentator said to his partner, clearly pointing it out.

"That is. She's heading for that wave. She's got it. All she's got to do is ride that long enough and she's won." The second one stated.

"Wait. See that wave…it's breaking right on top of her." He shouted out and then as the wave broke on top of Ruby shouted out, "She's gone down…I can't. Hold on that's her board." He shouted but Neo wasn't listening anymore.

Neo waved as the wave broke on top of Ruby, she saw that red hair for a second before it vanished in the white form of the wave.

A few seconds later Neo saw Ruby's board burst out from behind the wave but no Ruby attached to it or anywhere in sight. She barely heard the shouts behind her screaming for the jet skis to find out where she had gone as they began searching for her.

As Ruby fell down through the ocean she closed her eyes, the wave going over the top of her as she was just out of range of the current underneath.

Ruby felt herself get peace as her mind could only think one thing _, I'll see you soon_ Weiss was all she could think of as she fell down.

 **A/N**

 **Not actually too much I can think of saying about this one, yeah weird place to leave it but it'll make sense. Maybe, don't know.**

 **The main reason I've got this out is because I want to ask you lot about Dead Fantasy. I've been re-watching it and other then the fact it is amazing I need some help.**

 **I've got a rough plan of a story at the moment, and by rough I mean notes on my phone rough. But I need some important details.**

 **Names, I don't actually know if the characters have any actual names or not, if they do there's a couple I'd love to know. The woman with the two pistols, the black themed brawler/hand to hand fighter and the red haired one who has the key, then sword, then penny lookalike swords, and lastly the purple themed one with the double bladed purple sword. If they have actual names I'll love those, if not then I'll be making my own up.**

 **Oh yeah, I don't know anything about this event except for the fact that this area is actually one of the deadliest places to surf, I would not advise surfing here unless you're trained enough.**

 **Anyway thank you for reading and for the help, until next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

" _Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?"_

― _Mary Manin Morrissey_

 **Chapter 9-**

As Ruby fell down through the ocean she closed her eyes, the wave going over the top of her as she was just out of range of the current underneath.

Ruby felt herself get peace as her mind could only think one thing, _I'll see you soon Weiss_ was all she could think of as she fell down.

That was until another voice in her head spoke.

 _Neo. Don't get lost in the past._ This second voice said to her, telling her to keep going instead of losing herself.

Opening her eyes Ruby found fresh determination. No longer at peace with herself she started to fight against the water, swimming up with only one intention in her mind. _Return to Neo. Keep moving forward._ She repeated to herself as her head broke the surface and she spotted one of the rescue jet skis.

Swimming over to the ski she was quickly pulled aboard and they cut through the water towards the closest boat, and Neo.

* * *

Neo was prepared to dive in after Ruby, even going so far as to start taking off her clothes but was held back by someone on the boat, so instead started to fight with him to get in after Ruby.

"Stop. Look!" Qrow shouted pointing towards where a jet ski was coming over to them, someone laying on the board and another person holding them on.

Neo scrambled along the floor of the boat to the edge where Ruby was pulled aboard, she was alive and breathing heavily, coughing up some water but smiling up towards Neo, pulling her into a kiss as she said, "I love you. I love you so much." Ruby said as she was assaulted by more kisses.

Neo sat right next to Ruby, pulling her into a kiss instantly as she realised she was safe and alright, and if she wasn't stopped by a doctor on board she would have kept kissing Ruby

"I'm alright doc, wasn't under for long but went rather far." Ruby said cheerfully but noticeable out of breath.

"Either way I want to check you over." He said, all the while the commentators were talking about what happened, wondering what was going to happen now although nothing was heard from Ruby about her status and also her decision. If the doctor declared her fit she could still go back out but if the doctor didn't she had no choice.

"So can I head back out?" Ruby asked, clear determination in her voice.

"I can't find anything wrong with you, but I still want to have you checked out at a hospital." He explained.

"But can I go back out?" Ruby asked again.

"I advise heavily against it but…I don't have anything to hold you back. You seem fine." He stated.

Ruby smiled as she started to stand, bringing Neo with her. "This choice is down to you. I would love to go back in and win this, but that's already one close shave today. If you don't want me to go out, I won't." Ruby said to Neo, determined to go back out but also happy at the same time to sit back as she knew her limits.

Neo searched Ruby's eyes, finding nothing but love and trust in them. It was clear that Ruby wanted to go back out, that much in her words and eyes but at the same time she knew Ruby would happily sit back and retire from the event in general.

But Neo felt like she couldn't do that to Ruby, not with how happy she had been the last week here and how determined she was to win. "Go. Before I change my mind and keep you here. But you better come back to me, or I'll kick your ass back from the dead." Neo said firmly and with one last kiss planted on Ruby's lips she handed her board to Ruby who promptly took it and dived back in.

"Go get it kid." Qrow shouted after Ruby, pulling Neo up next to him so they could watch.

It didn't take long, all Ruby needed to do was catch a wave successfully and the one she chose was one of the largest of the day, but she successfully caught the wave, having the ride of her life before she jumped into the sea.

She made her way back to the boat, practically glowing as she rushed up onto the boat, ripping her leash off her leg as she ran up to Neo, blitzing past the camera crew to grab Neo, spinning the shorter girl around in excitement.

Pulling Neo into a deep kiss they both forgot about the camera watching them both and it wasn't until they broke apart they realise there was a camera there and a man waiting to interview Ruby.

The man was smiling at Ruby as the camera kept rolling on the pair and smiling back Ruby kept a hold of Neo as she went over to the man.

"Hello Ruby, it's been a while since we've seen you on the circuit. Are you announcing your comeback with this massive win?" He asked, holding the microphone up to Ruby.

"It has been hasn't it?" Ruby said cheerfully, "And yeah I am, I'm coming back slowly but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, so I had to take it. My amazing girlfriend here was a massive part of the reason I accepted the invite." Ruby answered.

"How so?" The man asked.

"As I'm sure you know, a year and a half ago I lost my than girlfriend in a shark attack. I've been rather reclusive over the last year and well I saw this amazingly cute girl struggling to surf so I went to help out and well one thing led to another and here we are. She sort of convinced me to get back into things and the invite to this event came at the right time." Ruby replied.

"So what's next for you?" He asked finally.

"Great question. I'm not entirely sure, you might see me at a few events but I know what I'm aiming for and it'll be a surprise." Ruby said with a wink, kissing Neo again on camera before they left the reporter.

That night was rather eventful for Ruby, she was given the award and even some encouragement from Tukson and an offer to join him big wave surfing, but Ruby declined with a look at Neo.

He seemed to understand and said that the offer was always there and if she wanted to, and she could always get in contact with him if she chose to.

They had another meal to celebrate Ruby's success but that evening wasn't one for rest for Ruby or Neo. It was their last day together for a little while as Neo had to return home the next day, so they spent the evening making love to each other until finally falling asleep in each other's arms.

 **A/N**

 **Ignore the shortness, I've got one last chapter left before the end and that'll be released tomorrow as I didn't want to do it as one big chapter.**

 **So what did you think? Good? Bad? See any of the references? Oh and that quote I used, I found it and been waiting to use it for this moment, I don't know why it just spoke to me on a level I can't really understand that I immediately knew when I would use this and have been holding back on it ever since.**

 **Not much more to say other than the fact this will be over tomorrow, I might take a little break because I'm actually going away next week. Ironically I'm going away to Woolacombe, where this story was first thought up and was based in so hopefully I get some surf time in and get some great video of it, but as always thank you so much for reading this, I love how this story had gotten so much interest, even if it's not as much as my other stories.**

 **So until next time. Thank you. ^_^**

 **Also I may have, sort of accidently started another story. (On top of like fifty ideas for other things :P) and weirdly enough has a sort of RubyxNeoxAmber feel to it. Oh and if you know what a Perpetual that gives you some clue ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

" _She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did."_

― _Markus Zusak, The Book Thief_

 **Chapter 10-**

 **A year and a half later, Hawaii.**

As Ruby had promised she went to multiply small surf events, even competed in a few. Neo there to support her each time without fail.

Over the year Ruby and Neo spent time together, either at Neo's home or at Ruby's while in between talking together over the internet or at different competitions around the world.

Neo had also gotten a very well-paying job which helped support her travelling and was a job she could do from almost anywhere as well.

Now a year and a half later Ruby returned to the place where it all began for her, Hawaii. Where she'd lost Weiss and changed her whole life but also the same time as when she met Neo. They had been together for two years since that week together and Ruby had flown with Neo, and family out to Hawaii.

One of the biggest events for Ruby ever, she had signed up on the first day and was in the first heat the next day. Ruby was able to blitz through towards the final over the course of two weeks, which she was happy for.

She had her friends, family and girlfriend all with her at the same time was perfect for her. But she was going to make it even more perfect.

She wanted to show Neo the hidden surf spot she had discovered, which only her very close friends and family knew about. But it was also the spot where Weiss had died.

She had gotten her friends all in on her plans, the ring that she picked out herself and when she showed it to her friends they all loved it.

So while Ruby and Neo, in their bikini's and surfboards went out to the spot, their friends and family coming about an hour later when Ruby planned to pop the question.

As they walked through the trees to reach the small bay they came across a small cross planted in the ground, with _Weiss_ written across it.

Neo realised what it was but allowed Ruby to explain as she clearly wanted to, "I erected this the day after Weiss died. I felt it was right to do it. The others know about it as well, but I haven't been back since I put it up." Ruby stated, looking at the cross.

Neo hugged Ruby as she waited for her to calm herself, but the woman didn't take long as she just smiled sadly and said, "Come on. Before the surfs gone." Ruby said, moving out of Neo's grip whispering, "Thank you." To her before running into the water.

For the next hour the two just enjoyed the area, catching some waves or sitting on their boards making out.

When Ruby spotted the first sign of their friends amongst the trees she quickly said to Neo, "Come on, let's head in." Ruby called out, already catching a wave however when she turned around to look at Neo she felt her heart drop.

A shark's fin appeared up and out of the water, right next to Neo who was just sitting on her board. Screaming at her Ruby shouted, "WATCH OUT!" Ruby said, already trying to get back to Neo as fast as she could.

Neo turned and saw the shark right next to her, falling down off her board her heart was stopping at the same moment as she fell off the board, preparing herself for the shark to attack her.

Somehow the shark got caught in the leash of the board and while it struggled around it Ruby was able to get close enough for Neo to get onto the board and quickly get away, leaving the board and shark behind.

Hearts racing until they reached the shore they saw the shark vanish from sight leaving the board floating in the water.

As they got onto the beach Velvet was already checking over Neo while Summer was on her phone, calling in the shark sighting and what had happened.

Hearts racing Neo fell into Ruby's arms for comfort at her near death experience and she couldn't imagine how Ruby felt seeing a second girlfriend almost get killed by a shark at the same spot.

It was Yang who broke the silence between everyone by saying, "So did you ask her yet?" She said, causing everyone to laugh at the tension relief.

"Ask me what?" Neo asked as the laughter died down.

Ruby just smiled as she got Neo to stand up with her before taking a knee in front of Neo with everyone watching what was happening.

"I love you. Since you came into my life you've completely shaken it up. I was happy living how I was after leaving the pro surfing circuit but I guess it was always missing something. That something was you. You came and well here I am today, a happy soul doing what she loves with the people she loves and I have you to thank for that. I love you and always will so I ask you." Ruby said, taking the ring from Mizu's waiting hand that held the box.

"Will you marry me?" Ruby asked, presenting a black metal ring with a ruby as the centre gem but next to it was a pink, brown and white gem surrounding the ruby in the middle.

Neo was speechless, both from what happened and now this as she felt tears falling down her face as she playfully said, "Well I can't really say no can I? Not with everyone here." Neo teased playfully.

"Nope. Your parents gave me permission." Ruby replied back.

"Well I better answer than shouldn't I?" Neo said, pulling Ruby up and kissing her passionately while those around them cheered. "A thousand times yes. I love you and will gladly marry you." Neo said.

Ruby smiled widely as she put the ring onto Neo's finger before kissing her again but instead of everyone going into the sea as planned before they chose to go somewhere else instead.

The next day Ruby went on to win the finals, having an interview afterwards before she could reach Neo who saw this and just ran up to her, kissing her live on camera again but this time Ruby introduced her as her fiancé and told them she had to go.

In the secluded surf spot, next to the marker remembering Weiss they put up a second marker saying, _Ruby and Neo, 2015-_ Leaving the next part blank they left it alone as the now sad spot for Ruby had been replaced with happy memories, but she wouldn't forget Weiss at all.

But she would keep on living her life with Neo, moving on to create a family of her own and live life to the fullest. And she would…

 _Keep moving forward._

 **A/N**

 **So that's the end, pretty obvious I'd put in a shark attack. My original plan was to leave that as a cliff hanger but I didn't write enough afterwards to do it or get it with the way I did the chapters.**

 **I hope you all liked this story, and with it now being over I would love it if each of you reviewed the story as a whole or just the chapter, maybe just say hello. Don't know, just brighten my day, or night.**

 **Not much more I can really think of saying because I think I said it last chapter.**

 **I want to thank everyone who has read this story, favourite, reviewed, followed or maybe just glanced at it. This has to be one of the pieces I've written that's closest to me because of a number of things, the area in which it's set for that first week is close to me with the simple fact that I love that place and of course I'll be going back next week which I can't wait for.**

 **I keep using I to start me sentences but I can't help, but this story means a lot to me. I can't explain why it just does so I hope you all enjoyed this story.**

 **I'm going to be taking a short break for a little while. Working on a few different things, attempting to get my life into some sort of order or rather my head, another thing I can't really explain but I want to work on a few separate pieces at my own random pace, I plan on completing Valetown Tales and my GGO: Red Reaper story before I work on Legends again, just to clear some things away while I work on other things.**

 **I hope you all understand my reasons, even if I haven't really explained it.**

 **Once more I want to thank everyone who has looked at this story, even thought about reading it and just everyone. Until next time. ^_^ RavenRose signing off.**


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